Random Pictures

Claire is now 14 months old! Her personality is really starting to shine and we absolutely love it! She is starting to say a few words like dog, yum, and of course dad. Still working on Mom. :) 

If she's eating something she loves she will say, "yum yum yum yum yum yum." 

  She loves her Elmo doll. Auntie Seleta sent it to us and she loves to sleep with it. When I put her to bed she will hand it to me so I can give Elmo a hug, then I hand it back and she gives Elmo lots of hugs. 

She LOVES to give hugs!! 

She also loves her freedom to play! It's a good thing we have three levels so we can have a little variety in our play areas.  

 She starting chewing on her crib. Once I saw teeth marks on the side I knew I needed to take action. 

I had extra material from her crib skirt and curtains so I looked up a couple of different tutorials and made this in just a few hours. It has a separate piece for each side. I measured, sewed some heavy duty liner just on the top part of the railings and then added ties at the bottom. My seam isn't perfect but you can't beat free!!   

Because of hurricane Sandy we had over a week without ANY sun...not even a single ray of sunlight. So when the sun finally came out, I wasn't the only one excited to see it! She loves to play by the front door and check out what's going on outside. 

 Claire LOVES magazines. She is really good at actually looking at them and not ripping them. Once and awhile we lose a corner or two but for the most part she is really good with them. :) 

A girl in our ward is having a baby boy. She has two other boys so I wanted to give her something that probably needs replaced...burp clothes. I made these from cloth diapers. Easy and super cute. 

She loved them!! 

 Living in Ohio has been such a different experience with the elections going on. I told my family we are living in the swing of all swing states. (Turns out Florida had more of an impact than we thought.)

Shaun and I followed the debates, read up on the websites, checked the facts and voted. 

It's a great feeling to know that each of us can vote! Even though we were a little disappointed that Mitt didn't win we know that the best thing we can do for our country is to raise good kids that will help uphold values and pray for the leaders that are elected. 

I will definitely not miss the political commercials on TV, radio, internet, etc. 

My dad was on the ballot in Idaho this year. My sister got matching shirts for Claire and Daphne to wear. We took a picture of our girls in their shirts then emailed it to my dad on election day. Claire is even raising her hand to vote for him. :) He was voted in for another term as judge. Good Job Dad! 

Last but definitely not least I need to brag about my Hubby! A few weekends ago he was in Columbus at a research retreat. I knew that he had to do a ten minute presentation to everyone there about his research but I didn't realize it was a competition. He came home and nonchalantly told me he got 1st place in his category...winning $200! Way To Go! He worked really hard preparing and it definitely paid off. 

Right now he is intensely studying for his candidacy exams. They begin the Monday after Thanksgiving. It will be four, eight hour written exams, and one, two hour oral exam. He definitely could use your prayers as this will determine if he can finish his PhD. I'm just glad it will all be over before Christmas so we can enjoy some time together as a family. :) Good luck honey!