Highlights...

Since it has been so long since my last post (sorry about that, by the way) I think it would be about impossible to include everything fun or cool things that we did.  So instead, I think I will just hit the highlights since Clare's first birthday party. 

I'll start by giving you an update on what's new with Clare.  Over the last couple of months, Clare has become this energetic, stubborn, hilarious, determined, curious, silly little girl.  She is into EVERYTHING and climbing on even more.  Any toy she can use as a makeshift step stool she does.  Her drum that she used to enjoy playing has now become both a seat and a step.  She has also developed quite a little attitude.  She squeals and throws a big fit if you tell her no and she has been known to have a tantrum or two if you take something from her.  But that is small in comparison to the cute and silly things that she does - like wearing one of her favorite toys on her head as a hat or hopping up to the table to nibble on every one of the peanut clusters I made or finding any box or anything like that to get into and take a seat.  Check it out...

And now for some of the fun things we've done since the last post...

First, there was a trip to the pumpkin patch with Mema, Papa, Sara, Nate, and the kids

Then we had a wonderful Halloween.  Sara thought of this super cute idea to have the kids dress up as the crew from the Wizard of Oz.  Clare was the cute little lion, and they all looked adorable.  We had a lot of fun trick or treating with Sara, Nate and the kids as well as Desirae, Tony, and their kids.  It's one of the biggest benefits of the move we made to Wamego - more opportunities to do things like that with family. 

A week or so later, Clare got to go to her first tailgate.  We went to tailgate at a K-State game with some of our friends Kyle, Eric, and Justin.  A note to all my fellow KU fans...I still love the crimson and blue, but there are times I just have to partake in some of the wildcat fun.  :) 

Next, was a wonderful Thanksgiving.  This is one of my favorite memories in the last few months.  It was one of the first chances that we've had to spend a lot of time with my grandma since my grandpa passed away this summer.  She was in good spirits and really wanted to go out and eat and do something which is a big deal with her.  I think she really enjoyed the time she got to spend with her two great granddaughters too.  It was just very heartwarming. 

And let's not forget Clare's first meetings with Santa.  We went to see him at the Rossville Festival of Trees with Nana and in Axtell with Mema, and the outcome was the same both times...an unhappy and frightened little girl! I guess there's always next year for a cute Santa photo.  And until then you can check out a happy little girl in front of the Christmas tree. 

Hope you've enjoyed catching up.  It's hard to believe how fast these past few months have gone, but we've sure been having a lot of fun!

Clare's First Birthday - Part Two

Warning...this post is a bit long and has SO many photos. 

So, we had Clare's first birthday party on Saturday, October 15th at our place in Wamego.  It was an amazing day.  Clare had so much family attend.  She probably doesn't realize it yet, but we are so fortunate to have an amazing family on both sides.  The day was not only about celebrating Clare's first year, but also about celebrating each other's company. 

The house was filled with adorable decorations.  My dear friend made the cutest things for the party.  She helped make it a really special celebration - thanks, Jenny! 

We started off the party hanging out and having appetizers.  Then we began the presents.  Clare got so many amazing things and it took us quite a while to open them all.  She thought it was pretty fun to pull the tissue paper out of bags and rip the wrapping paper off of boxes. 

And of course, what would a first birthday party be without cake and ice cream.  I am proud to say I made Clare's birthday cake, and even frosted it myself (With help of course!).  And Clare loved it.  She tried to actually grab the hot flame of the candle so Tony had to quickly blow it out for her.  LOL!  Clare didn't dig in right away like I thought she might.  She actually was quite dainty with the cake.  However, once she got used to the frosting she started to get a bit more messy with it.  

  

Like I mentioned before, we are so lucky to have such great family as a part of our lives.  Here are the pics of Clare with each of her very special family members...

Great-Grandma Buessing

Great-Grandpa and Grandma Rochel

MeMa and PaPa

Nana

Grandpa and Tammy

Aunt Sara, Uncle Nate, Payton, Casey, and Aubrey

Roger, Deb, Morgan, Nate, and cutie pie Cooper

What a fun day - one we will always remember.  Happy birthday, baby girl!  We love you!

Clare's First Birthday - Part One

Wow, where has the time gone?  It's so hard for me to believe that our baby girl is already a year old.  To celebrate the occasion, both Tony and I took off work to spend the day with her.  We took Clare for her first trip to the zoo and had some much needed quality time.  It was a great day. Then on Saturday was Clare's party.  That will be in part two of the post.

We thought this was hilarious...looks like Clare is just playing in the wild with the king of the jungle! She looks pretty excited about it.   :)

We took a stroller to the zoo with us, but it served more as a cart for my purse and Clare's stuff...she was off and running all day long! She absolutely loves being able to move about so quickly!

Random...

This post will be kind of random, but I have a few cute pics to share that don't really fit in with any other theme.  Clare is getting so big right before our eyes.  She is eating more things now, and absolutely LOVES pasta.  The problem is that pasta is just so messy.  We have had several dinners where Clare eats topless so we have to use just a bit less Shout afterwards.  LOL!  She also loves eating with a fork like a big girl and being more and more independent.  Check out so of these pics...

Some other fun things we've done in the last month is a visit to the lake to see Grandpa, Tammy, and Ariana.  It was beautiful weather and we had a nice relaxing time.  Grandpa hosted a breakfast for some of his motorcycle riders and got to show little miss Clare off.  But who wouldn't want to show off this cutie...

We also checked out Oztoberfest in Wamego with Nana the first weekend of October.  Clare had fun visiting the characters of the Wizard of Oz.  It was great for her to learn about Oz because of this year's Halloween theme.  More to come on that one. 



Wedding Weekend

Please forgive me that it has been almost a month since my last post...it has been a very hectic month around the Buessing house.  So catching up, I am going to go back to the beginning of October to a great weekend when we celebrated our dear friends Jackie and Ben's wedding in Kansas City.

Jackie is my oldest friend, and she married this wonderful man Ben (I just have to mention that I set them up!) on October 8th.  The weekend began on Friday evening with an amazing rehearsal dinner at this awesome Italian restaurant called Lidia's.  It was fun to have some nice intimate time with the bride, groom, and their families and friends prior to the big day.  Clare stayed with our friends Jess & Tracy for the evening, as did we later on.  It was great to see them too! 

Then Saturday was the wedding and reception - so much fun!  The wedding was beautiful.  The reception was at Boulevard Brewery in Kansas City which was the coolest venue.  Part of what made the day so fun was getting the chance to see friends like Ang and Tony and Denisse and Skip, and older friends that I knew from when I was growing up.  On top of getting to catch up with friends, it was also so much fun to see Clare on the dance floor.  She was really tearing it up for a bit.  She LOVES anything with music...it always seems to get her feet (or her rear end) moving!

Check out these moves by this little sweetie...love it!



All in all, a great weekend in Kansas City!  Congrats, Ben and Jackie!  We are so happy for the two of you as you begin your new life together. 

One Year Ago Tonight...

One year ago tonight it was a typical Wednesday night.  We went to the Other Place in old OP with our friends Jess and Tracy for some pizza, wings, and trivia.  We were celebrating Jess's last meal because she was about to have surgery on her teeth.  I was actually supposed to go to her surgery to be support for Tracy.  But that never happened...

Who knew that my water would break that night (we literally didn't know it had...LOL!) and that we would be in the hospital having our little sweetie the very next day.  Thinking back on it all, it seems crazy that it's been a year.  It was the most wonderful day in our lives and we were forever changed.   We were blessed with this beautiful little girl.  We love you Clare Bear!