Exciting Day!

It was an exciting day at the Gillespie house... We threw away the bottles! We've been working on Claire taking a cup for a while now and she hasn't had a bottle since Monday! Way to go Claire!!!! She was a little fussy at first, but I think she likes that she can get the milk out faster because she has been chugging it. I am so excited not to have to wash bottles anymore I don't quite know what to do. Claire will be 1 in just two weeks. Hard to believe.

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

Claire has definitely had a memorable first Thanksgiving so I wanted to be sure it was a part of the blog. She woke up during the night Wednesday with a high fever. Gabe rocked her for a couple hours during the night and after the medicine kicked in her fever went down some and she went back to sleep. Not quite sure if it was a stomach bug or infection, but she threw up a couple times and didn't do much but sleep on Thanksgiving.

(Claire, your first Thanksgiving meal was a few teaspoons of Gatorade by syringe. Sorry you missed out on all the good food, we were especially excited for you because you are such a good eater and LOVE meat. You're really going to love it next year! )

I took her to the doctor on Friday morning and she was treated for an infection since she had been running the fever off and on for over a week. She got a shot and some medicine and has been doing so much better! Just to see her want to eat and drink again is such a relief. We haven't had one of the girls that sick before and it was pretty scary. The doctor was very encouraging though. He asked if she was in daycare and I told him yes. He said that it is common for babies to get sick when they are in daycare and also told me all about a research study he had just read about strengths of children that have been in daycare. He said that they are usually very social and have an increased vocabulary. Those are the two I remember because they reminded me of Sadie. He also said that they usually do not miss very much school because they have already been exposed and have been sick when they were younger. Anyway, he said it would get better after the first two winters which proved to be true with Sadie and to hang in there. It was just so nice to be encouraged and just what I needed after the couple of weeks we had just had of ear infections and sickness. I was praying on the way to the doctor that I was going to need help to hold it together. He gave me the right doctor with just the right words and I am so thankful she is better.

Anyway, I didn't mean to get so far off of Thanksgiving... Here are some pictures from our weekend and the fun we have had.

I was determined to get some pictures of Claire's first Thanksgiving. She looks pretty miserable huh? This would be the hour she was awake. Poor baby. Sadie was a trooper and would pose for me to get some pictures.

Our plans for Thanksgiving were to go to the Lamm's and eat, but we had to cancel. They were so sweet and brought us some dinner. We are so grateful for their friendship.

Gabe and Sadie went on a movie date late morning since we had to change our plans around. They went and saw Tangled.

Claire's First Thanksgiving Photo. Pitiful huh?

Gabe decided to make pizza tonight so Sadie was all about helping. They turned out great. At dinner she said, "Mamma, I made it for you." She is so sweet.

So proud of her creation.

Claire is feeling better! Hooray!!!!!!!

Halloween Fun!

So I debated about even posting pictures since it shows the messy house in the background, but then I figured, oh well, that's our life right now so why not? We had a fun Halloween and went Trunk or Treating. Here are a few pictures. Claire was a cute pumpkin and Sadie loved her Minnie Mouse dress. I think she would wear it 24/7 if she could. This was her first year to really pick a costume and wear it so it was really fun. She had fun handing out candy after she was finished walking around. She LOVED seeing all the candy that was available, we had to limit it quickly. Claire was just as sweet as ever and smiled and pointed to everyone.

Here they are before we left.

And there goes Claire. One picture. That really is about all I get before she takes off. Sadie is about to say, "BABY!!!!!"

Eyeing the candy!

This was pretty much her post. She was very generous though and loved giving it out to the other kids. She just always wanted to have some too. Imagine that!

Claire is 8 and 9 months old :)

So Claire is actually 10 months old today, but I am just getting her 8 and 9 month pictures posted. My goal has become to get this month taken before the next month gets here and so far I have made it. Now I'll just work on getting them posted. To say that Claire is on the go would be kind of an understatement. She is moving, moving, moving. She does not stay still as you can see from trying to take her picture. I had a little better luck with the 9 month picures when I made Gabe help me. It has become a two person job. Claire has such a funny personality and it is so much fun to watch the girls together. Sadie starts talking and Clarie just jabbers right back. Sadie loves her so much and has started calling her "baby sister" or "baby Claire" I really just melt. As busy as we get, my favorite time of day is the precious few minutes we have after dinner before bed when we are all on the floor just playing. We just talk and laugh and enjoy being our family.

Really, these picures do not do justice to how many I took. I did not get one picture of her actually sitting looking at the camera, but she was smiling and laughing and all of them!

Sadie turns 3!

It's hard to believe, but today is Sadie's 3rd birthday! She is quite a little girl and such a blessing to our lives. She is so talkative and wants to tell us things she is learning all the time. It is so fun to see all that her little mind is taking in right now. Her sweet smiles brighens my day whenever I see her and I pray that she will continue to spread joy wherever she goes. My prayer continues to be that God will guide us as we raise her to be His and what he wants her to be to glorify him and his work. We love you sweet girl!

We had her birthday party last weekend with Lincoln at Jumpin Jungle. It was so much fun! All of the kids had a great time and we got to enjoy watching them. Sadie knew she was having her birthday party, but I don't think really understood what we were doing until it all started happening. She had never been to Jumpin Jungle so it was a lot of fun for her. She was all smiles when she arrived and saw all the jumpers and then when all her friends started to get there too it was so sweet. They all were so excited to get to play together.

Sadie with her friend Kynlie

Alison letting Claire have some fun too.

Watching the video before we went in.

Going down a slide.

So excited to blow out her candles.

Group shot

Lincoln with his cupcake.

Claire takes down Pooh...

Just a few quick pictures of "sweet" Claire. She loves Pooh and took him down while they were playing the other day. It was super cute and I'm glad I got a few pictures. So many people tell us that they think she is going to have "quite the personality." What exactly does that mean? Hmmmmm...

Fall is Coming...

It is still blazing hot here in West Texas, but we were able to go to the Apple Butter Festival today to get a taste of some fall activity. Sadie had a great time picking apples, looking at the animals, and seeing her friend, Charleton.

Claire just looks like she is so ready to be up and going with the big kids, doesn't she? Or maybe she is just dreaming of apple pie and apple cobbler. I don't know, but I just love this picture. Definitely my favorite from the day.

Charleton and Sadie, hanging out by the rocks.

Getting a boost from Daddy.

Making her selection.

They also had a petting zoo. Sadie's favorite animal was this little baby pig. I think she would have sat here all. day. She just loved him. We don't have any pets at home so she really doesn't usually do too well with animals, but she LOVED this pig. Don't get any ideas, though. We will not be getting a pet pig any time soon.