Our fish

Here is Evan swimming at the pool this week. We start lessons again in April or May (still have to sign up), hopefully he'll learn how to breathe correctly and maybe learn some new strokes! Maybe he'll want to be on the swim team. Being on the swim team is one of my fondest childhood memories.

Go O's

As part of our Spring Break Trip, we went to Sarasota to see the O's play the Tigers. Last year was the Orioles' first Spring Training year in Sarasota and the stadium was in poor condition. What a difference a year makes, the stadium is beautiful! They did such a nice job with it. Claire and I got to see almost the whole thing, since she had no interest in sitting and watching the game. She made friends everywhere we walked around that stadium, every one working there loved her cheer leading outfit and her big smile.  Her flirting even scored me a free Corona! She and I had a great time seeing the game from every corner of the stadium, while Joe and Evan got to see the Oriole's hit a grand slam and a 3 run homer in the first 2 innings. The score was 13-0 (Orioles winning) at the end of the 2nd inning! What a game! Evan was bummed he didn't get to catch a foul ball, but was pretty excited about his foam finger.

Let's hope the O's continue that great playing into the regular season! Go Orioles!

Spring Break!

This past week has been Evan's spring break. To celebrate, we took a trip to the beach for a few days. We went to North Redington Beach, which is near St. Pete Beach on the Gulf of Mexico. Although the forecast called for rainy days, we got very lucky and had beautiful beach days! It rained pretty hard one night, but that was it. We got very lucky!! The kids loved the beach, had so much fun playing in the water and sand. Claire was easily entertained by a shovel, bucket and ball for hours. The hotel we stayed at had a pool too, so Evan got lots of swimming time in. I have to post a video of him swimming, he's getting quite good. Joe and I got to eat so much grouper, it was wonderful.

We had a really nice, relaxing time with the kids. It's so nice to see them love the ocean and beach (and pool too) as much as Joe and I do.

Bay Hill Invitational

 Phil, all those who know us well, know how much we love him. If you don't know, his son's name is Evan, enough said

 Lead singer of Rascal Flatts, seemed like a really cool guy

 Brian shaking Tiger's hand, can't see Tiger because of Jim, but the next picture is to prove, it was Tiger (his potty mouth and all)

 Catherine getting Jim's autograph

 Jim & Brian

 Brian & Fluff (a legend apparently)

 Me & Catherine

 Joe & I-9 years after our first golfing date!

 Arnold Palmer

 Brian, hard at work!

On Wednesday, Joe and I were able to go to the Bay Hill Invitational Pro Am Tournament with our friend Catherine and watch her husband, Brian, caddy for Jim Furyk. We had THE BEST TIME! Our first date was to Torrey Pines for the Buick Invitational (sure it's not called that anymore). We've never been to another tournament since then. Going on Wednesday was wonderful for so many reasons: 1. We got to see Brian caddy, 2. there was no one there 3. because there was no one there, we got so close to all the golfers and 4. since it was a Wednesday, childcare was much easier to cover. Thanks to my friend Rosie for watching Evan and to Katrina for watching Claire. We were there from 10am-4pm and I have the crazy sunburn to prove it! I can't even describe how much fun we had!!

The Neville's came to Visit

Can you tell it's cold up North, we keep getting visitors! I'd love to say it's because they miss us so much, but I know the warm weather is the pull! Last weekend Kevin, Kate, Kayla, Stephen, Pierce and Audrey came into town. Claire and Audrey are just 4 months apart in age, so it was fun to see them play together. Audrey terrorized poor Claire just how Claire seems to terrorize Davis, so it was funny to see it on the flip side. What Davis would have given to see them together! But, seriously, Claire did have fun with Audrey, as long as Joe or I held her :).

Also, it was so fun to see what Claire may be doing in 4 months. Audrey was talking up a storm, much like Evan did at that age. Claire only has a few words now, but maybe in 4 months she'll be a full on talker too!

Evan and Pierce were attached to each other and had the most fun riding all the rides at Sea World together, playing their iTouches together and just playing in general. We had a nice visit and were so glad that they came to Orlando to see us.

Basketball Season #1 Completed

Evan's first basketball season was a success! He had fun and played hard, not much more you can ask for. His team was not really a traditional team, with 24 total players who were then unofficially teamed off into blue or white. They scrimmaged against each other the whole season. It was well orchestrated by the athletic director and the skills they practiced on Thursdays: dribbling, bounce passing and shooting, were then implemented in the games on Saturday. I think it was the best run sport for the 3-4 year olds so far. Evan did a great job shooting and dribbling and by the end of the season got a little more aggressive in the rebounding. Next is baseball season, his favorite!!

 The white "team"

All the players

A closeup of Evan, with his favorite part of the sports season-the trophy!!

The Luck of the Irish

Think we'll be lucky all year long with these two Irish cuties (now if I could only get them looking and smiling at the camera at the same time, we would have something)! We celebrated St. Patrick's Day this year in typical fashion, with corned beef, cabbage, red potatoes and perhaps a few beers! Evan got sick about 2 hours after these pictures were taken, so it was a rather calm celebration. Good news is he is all better now and back to his old self!

Claire walking and Evan being silly

Claire is walking! Sort of, I guess. She is taking a few steps at a time. This video is from the other day, and she is now taking even more steps at a time, about 8 or so. She'll be off and running soon. Right now, we are enjoying the slow pace. This video is cute because you can see both of their personalities so well. Evan, my ham, who must be the center of attention, and Claire, the happy girl who is so proud of herself!

Trip to Vero Beach

On a whim, we packed up the car and headed East to Vero Beach. It was an absolutely beautiful day yesterday and all four of us had fun at the beach. Claire fit right in at the beach with her "crab crawl" and even stood a few times on her own on the sand. She loved the water, even though it was a little chilly. Evan sprinted into the ocean, like no time had passed since the last time he went into the water. He wiped out a few times and just ran right back in. He really has no fear at all. We are very excited about our upcoming mini-vacation to the West Coast of FL in a few weeks, where we will get to spend even more time lounging and playing in the sand and water.

Making it Private

I've been getting some weird traffic and comments on my blog lately, so I decided to make it private. I am sorry that you have to take an extra step to view this, but I hope you understand. Thanks for visiting and checking out what the kids are up to!

Holy Growth Spurt Darth Vader!

Yes, Evan still exists! Poor kid can't pay for a post these days. I must say that he has been the best big brother to Claire. He always wants to help her, encourage her and love her. He wasn't even slightly jealous of her birthday, he just loved helping her opening her presents. In the last month, while we've had tons of wonderful visitors and been busy celebrating Claire's birthday, Evan has had a crazy growth spurt.

At his doctor's visit on February 1, he was just over 41 inches. That measurement I thought was wrong because he wouldn't stand up straight. I knew he was closer to 42 inches, because every time we go to an amusement park, that's the goal-42 inches to ride certain rides. Anyhoo, he was about 36 pounds too. All of a sudden, he is now about 42.5 inches and 39 pounds. It took him like a year and a half to gain his last 3 pounds and now he put them on in 1 month!! Guess all the bribing of vegetables to get him to "grow tall enough for the rides" has worked. Think we can keep it up for the next jump, 48 inch rides??

While I'm discussing Evan, just have to brag that his reading is insane lately! He is reading everything in sight. He is able to read me most of the words in almost all of his books. I'm so proud of him, I cannot get over how proficient his reading is! His math skills are getting pretty great too, he knows all of his coins now and can do simple addition.

Claire is 1

This post is a little overdue, but we've been busy!
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I cannot even believe that my baby girl is actually 1 year old!
Where in the world did this past year go? It has been such a wonderful year, experiencing all the joys of babyhood with Claire. She truly has been such an easy going, happy baby. We got so lucky with her as a baby. I want to record this, because when she is 13, I want to remember how laid back and agreeable she was in her first year :)! God truly blessed our family, when he brought her into our lives.

Some basic stats about Claire
Height: 31 inches (95% percentile)
Weight: 25lbs, 10oz (95% percentile)
Clothes: 18-24 mo or 2T
Shoes: size 5
Diaper: size 4
Teeth: 8, four upper middle and 4 bottom middle. Right top molar is apparently coming soon according to her doctor

Hair: Her hair is now growing longer in the back and is forming a sweet mullet. But thankfully said mullet curls into the sweetest curls of all time. So, only I see the mullet at bath time! Her hair is brown, but I definitely see it lightening up in the summer.
Favorite Breakfast: scrambled eggs
Favorite Lunch: ham, turkey and string cheese
Favorite Dinner: rice, pasta, broccoli, green beans, peas, avocado, corn
Easy go-to snack: cereal bars, yogurt, applesauce
Movement: Tired of crawling on her knees, Claire now crawls like a crab (straight legged), this child has crawled so many different ways, it's amusing to watch! Stands on own from sitting position, loves to cruise.
Sleeping: sleeps 7:00pm to 6:45am, 2 naps a day that range in length from 45 min-2 hours. Typically at 9am and at 2pm
Talking: Our little "Ariel" as Shannon had aptly nicknamed her, does not ever stop making noise. She is very loud and has a lot to say. Just not too sure what it is she is saying. She knows Mama, Dada and Evvvvvvaaa in context. She will wave and say hi and bye-bye. She know the sign for "All Done"
Personality: She is feisty and gets into everything she possibly can, all doing it with a giant smile on her face. She tries to climb up everything, the stove, the window sills, the baby gate. She loves to open and empty every cabinet she can get into and she loves to pull all the toilet paper off the roll. Needless to say, she is keeping us on our toes!
Favorite books: All the touch and feel books, anything with other babies faces on, Snuggle Puppy, Pat the Bunny, Baby's First Colors
Loves: Bath, splash pad, pool, Evan, Joe, climbing, swings, mischief of any kind
Big accomplishment: Both formula and bottle are GONE! We did it at 1 year woohoo! So proud of her and us, because it was actually much harder on me to let go of the bottle then Claire. I think I may have shed a tear or two when Joe took them away, Claire could have cared less.

I have tried to cherish every moment of Claire's first year and feel like I appreciated each new moment a little more with her. I can't wait to see what this next year brings Claire. Happy Belated Birthday to my daughter, Claire Delaney!

These pictures of her were taken by my dear friend Abby who is such an amazing photographer!