{ KEY LIME PIE! }

So Brian and I are huge fans of key lime pie. We have a couple restaurants that we frequent just for their key lime pie. Since we have such a love for key lime pie, I thought I would give making it a try. For a first attempt, it turned out pretty amazing. We have gone through two pies in two weeks! Since we love it so much, I thought I would share. Enjoy!

Pie crust Recipe

Pie Filling Recipe

{ MY SWEET VALENTINES }

I am pretty sure this year was my favorite Valentines yet. Nothing really out of the ordinary happened. I was just feeling so much LOVE for my little bear and Mr. B. I was also feeling extra grateful that I was no longer single, sulking in my singledom on such a day as Valentines. No offense to all my single friends! Your day will come. Anyway.... Brian and I aren't big fans of crowds so we planned early on to celebrate Valentines the day after. And let me just tell you it was well worth it. Not only do crowds give us a slight amount of anxiety buuuut I am somewhat of a nosey people watcher and the fewer people there are to snoop on, the better the conversation between Brian and I. So since we weren't going out on Valentines, we offered to watch our friends little ones. Though we were sure to still keep it festive, so I put together a little Valentines dinner for us and our good friends Oak and Scott. The dinner was good and the company was even better so we were content.

For our official Valentines celebration, it was my year to plan. Seeing that it was my first, I realized it's a lot harder to be original than one would imagine. I think as a woman (maybe I'm wrong) we have these dreams in our minds of just how amazing and romantic each valentines is going to be and well....thats just not the case. Though they are great, they just aren't quite the dreams of grandeur I had a few years ago. So for our Valentines day we exchanged gifts (I had a puzzle made out of one of our wedding photos and it went with this card that showed two puzzle pieces and underneath read " The Perfect fit". I am quite proud), had a delicious meal at Ruth's Chris, and finished off the night with indoor Go Kart racing. I would have to say that Go Kart racing was the high light of the night. It was more fun than anything we have done in a long time, but we both got a little queasy on the drive home. So queasy that we had to pull over on our way home... it made for a real good laugh. Over all, the night was a success and it was so delightful to finally get some quality valentine time together. I can't wait until next year!

{ 13 Months }

Since I have been so horrible at taking pictures for the last few months, I figured I should make up for it. So I took WAY too many photos over the last couple weeks and some look very similar. So I'm sorry, it's too hard to just pick a couple. So here they are!

Here is a little tidbit about Claire at 13 months.

- She finally decided to start sleeping through the night. ( Thank the heavens! I thought the day would never come)

- She loves mickey mouse club house. She always tries to say "oh toodles".

- She loves jumping around in her crib. Its her way of showing her excitement after waking up.

- She started walking two weeks ago and now she can't stop.

- She loves to clap. Especially when we cheer her on with "yay!".

- According to her last doctor's appointment, she is in the 97th percentile for height! I have no clue where she gets the height from.

- She thinks it is very funny when mom and dad kiss.

- We let her help open and shut the garage door which makes her very happy.

- She still only has two teeth!!!?

- She is a busy body who doesn't like to stay still. It is next to impossible to get her to snuggle for more than 2 seconds. This makes mom a little sad.

- She loves playing with other kids. Other kids make her laugh very easily.

- She loves music! Anytime music comes on the TV, she will stop whatever she is doing and just watch it. She even makes attempts to sing.

- She has dad's long and straight eyelashes. I'm jealous.

- She loves chewing on mom's necklaces.

- And lastly, she is a totally daddy's girl. Who's mom??

So thats our little Claire! We love every bit of her. The cute and the sassy.

{ CHRISTMAS JOY }

Christmas came and went and we had lots of fun. So much fun that I spaced on taking photos. Oops. Our Christmas consisted of a ginger bread house contest, ice skating, movies, puzzles, lots of yummy food, and much needed family time. Claires favorite gifts were her many books, thanks to grandma and grandpa Phelps, her phone from Matt and Karlee, and her Elephant from Parker and Chase. She got too much to just pick one! Brian got some toys of his own. At his request he received a nerf gun, a video game, a remote control helicopter and a trip to Australia. I was a lucky girl and got a new rug and two chairs that I am in love with! Now my entry way is no longer empty, and that makes me a happy girl. Though Claire was spoiled with gifts she was most happy having family around. Claire just loves her grandmas, grandpa, aunts, uncles and Bentley (the family dog. She thinks he is the funniest creature ever). She gets so much love when they are around. Hopefully one day we can be close to family again. But for now holidays will have to do. Until next Christmas!

{ A YEAR OF CLAIRE IN PICTURES }

I am in the process of putting together a tiny prints book with our favorite pictures and memories of Claire from the past year. I think it just might end up being 500 pages, considering the amount of photos I have taken of her. It really is out of control. Anyway, I know this post is going to have way too many photos but these are just a small portion of our favorites. Looking at all these photos remind me just how grateful I am to have such a happy a vibrant little girl in my life. She is the best!