The Life of Gabe and Claire

Moments to always remember...

2010-03-14T13:50:00.001-07:00

The first two were taken on our "Fun Friday" at home...nothing exciting...just playing at home...together.

Claire (aka-little hoarder)...she likes to take everything with her...in piles.

Gabe and Claire playing trains together...

I want to remember these little moments forever...bottle them up and keep them close to my heart...

Singin' & Dancin'...video!

2010-02-07T11:51:00.001-08:00

I thought this was too cute not to share...Claire loves to dance and sing. Gotta love how homely they look...and don't mind the array of things on our table. It's pretty common these days. ;)

Claire turns 2...

2010-01-13T19:32:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe our baby girl is growing her way right into toddlerhood. I'm going to miss her younger stages, but can't wait to see what she does in the future. Here is a peek inside her birthday party...

Her overly, adorable cake that I was a bit obsessed over... ;)

I had fun with this one...

The cupcakes that were to die for...

The kiddos got to decorate their own cupcake...loved it!

The kids loved this...I did too. ;)

Just when you thought...

2009-11-10T22:19:00.000-08:00

you wouldn't hear from me for another few months...we're back. I love this pic of Gabe and Claire. This is them...100%. They love to sit together to eat their cheese sticks. So cute...

And for a little story...

Jeremy recently captured his first deer for our dinner table and Gabe has been very curious. Well, today I picked Gabe up from preschool and he told me that he had some angel cake. I asked him if he liked it, and of course, he said yes. He then went on to say, "I wonder if they had to kill the angel to make the cake?" Oh, how I love what they come up with... ;)

Real life with Gabe & Claire...

2009-11-10T10:50:00.000-08:00

I know...it's been forever since I've put up anything new of the kids (some of you have been letting me know ;). The fall is such a crazy time of year for us. Everything gets put on the back-burner except photography. You should see our house...oh wait, no, please don't see our house right now!!! ;) So, I have some photos to share soon, but for now here is a video of Gabe and Claire being who they are best...themselves. We couldn't be more blessed....love them!

Such cuteness...

2009-09-03T22:37:00.000-07:00

Oh, how I love them.... It seems as though they change every day.

I could look at this all day long!!! ;)

The joys of summer swinging...

2009-08-17T19:45:00.000-07:00

This picture was one of many from our Washington trip. I will post more soon...hopefully. ;) This one melts my heart every time I look at it. There is something about enjoying the treats of summer like swinging. Hannah and Gabe had so much fun swinging together...just laughed and smiled the entire time...a moment that I want to relive forever.

Bath Time!!!

2009-07-26T21:02:00.001-07:00

It has been almost 3 months, I'm afraid, since I posted last...hate that! Anyway, we have had a busy summer, but even busy summers need baths, so here are some fun photos of Gabe and Claire during bath time!

There is much more to come...we can't wait to share what we have been up to!

The story of our lives...

2009-05-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

You may have been wondering what we've been up to...

I think this explains it all! ;) I promise this only happened long enough to take the picture...

We've got sand...

2009-04-27T06:26:00.000-07:00

Jeremy built Gabe a sandbox several years ago, but we put rocks in it instead of sand...the biggest reason being he was at the age where he wouldn't put the rocks in his mouth, but sand could easily get into his eyes. So, now, I guess we thought for the sake of Gabe we should put sand in there. They both love it, but lo and behold, guess where the sand went the first time Claire was in the box...

This was my view from the patio table...

Gabe wasn't that interested in having his picture taken, but I grabbed this one of him...cutie.

I love her expressions right now!

"Puppy!" She can spot dogs a mile away... :)

I know what you're thinking..."You let your daughter play with a rusty shovel?" Yes, but only for that day. We had just put the sand in, but hadn't replaced the toys yet. They were rather excited to get in and play. Forgive me...we kept a close eye on her. :)

This picture makes me smile. So, we needed our lawn mowed, obviously. ;) Jeremy was getting hot, tired, and thirsty...this was the look he gave me. Gabe also struggled trying to get the grass down. His frustration was funny to watch. And, for the record, Gabe's lawn mower has been moving for 3 years...non-stop. I bought it at a second-hand store right around him turning two...and it has been the best "cheap" investment ever made. He LOVES this thing...if you've been to our house, you know.

And some of our favorite times...the bathtub. I love watching the kids play in the water together. I know this time will end shortly, so I want to capture as much of it as I can.

A visit from Ohio...

2009-04-27T05:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had a special visit from my dear friend, Michelle, and her two kids. We had such a good time and just enjoyed relaxing and letting the kiddos play. Below are a few moments of our time together....

I guess you could say the sun was shining... :)

Gabe and Kory...they are only 5 months apart. They have a great time playing together.

Claire wasn't exactly happy with me. She wanted to swing and I kept stopping her trying to get her to smile... :)

Weeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

I love the next two...

Claire on her new ride from my auntie... :)

Michelle and I...I love this girl!

Gabe and Kaitlyn...they became pretty good friends as well...

This next series are of Claire on her new ride. She loves this thing...as you can clearly see...

Isn't she just adorable???

A bit of this, a bit of that...

2009-04-17T05:56:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, we had a 10 day trip to Europe and returned a week ago today. We are finally feeling like we are getting back into a routine. Between not sleeping for over 48 hours on our return home and jet lag...we were a mess. If you would like to see some images from our trip head on over to our photography blog: www.carpenterpd.com/blog. It is so good to be home!

The kids got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Carpenter while we were gone. They had a blast! Claire had a few rough nights, but other than that they did rather well. So, what have we been up to? Well, as soon as we returned home Easter was here. We drove to Kokomo to spend the day with Jeremy's family. Below are a few pictures...

Yesterday, we met up with my roommate from college and her little family. We took the kids to the Children's Museum. They had so much fun...they played like there was no tomorrow. Claire put her groove on with the carousel music. I couldn't get enough of it!

This isn't drool...she just had a good time splashing in the water. ;)

Fire pits and hot dogs...

2009-03-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

The weather was absolutely amazing this weekend! We had a wonderful wedding on Saturday...lots of energy ;), but sweet couple, awesome location..beautiful day. We forget how exhausted we are after a wedding. How sad is it that my fingers were sore when I woke up on Sunday morning...not to mention every other part of our body? I know, I know...this isn't our photography blog...back to the kids. :)

Sunday proved to be equally nice, so we decided to get our fire pit going and have some hot dogs. That is, after the kiddos had a nap and Jeremy and I watched 3 episodes of 24 (we have a slight addiction right now ;). Claire enjoyed playing in the rock box (weird, I know...no sand in the eyes, so it makes everyone happy) and Gabe was an excellent cook smoking our hot dogs. We are so excited to have some warmer weather...we are such outdoorsy people...it's hard to keep us cooped up for too long. ;)

Look at her crazy hair! ;)

Just for the record, I actually asked Gabe to stick out his tongue...not a great idea, I know. ;)

Sweet, sweet girl...

2009-03-07T09:38:00.000-08:00

I always knew that I would love having a boy, but I had no idea what I was in for with a girl. Claire is so much fun! It just goes to show that having a boy and a girl are equally wonderful. ;) They are both their own individuals...making our lives very interesting. The things that Gabe used to do, Claire wants to have nothing a part of and vice versa.

Anyway, I wanted to share with you some of the vocabulary Claire has been picking up: Mommy, Daddy, Puppy, Bubby, Gramma (new one this week ;), and tickle-tickle. She doesn't actually say tickle-tickle, but it is pretty close. I just love hearing her little words being made known...

The past couple of days have been very pleasant outside and we have been trying to get the kids out of the house a bit. Well, the past two times she has been outside she has been walking towards the road saying, "puppy?, puppy?" ...she sees the neighbor's dog across the street and desperately wants to go and visit. ;) Talk about making me nervous, but I love hearing her excitement about seeing the puppy at the same time....too cute.

I just want to eat her up... :)

I just love this picture of Gabe and Caleb--wearing Grandpa's hats...adorable!

I promise to be better...

2009-02-26T04:33:00.001-08:00

I know some of you have been anxious to see some new pictures of the kiddos so here they are... :) Well, actually, I am going to start off with a few from my trip to Las Vegas for the annual photography conference that I have gone to the past 3 years. My longtime friend, Tara, from Ohio, joined me this year. She is getting her feet wet in photography and decided to overwhelm herself with all of the amazing ideas the conference has to offer. ;)

The temperature in Las Vegas was rather bitter...surprisingly. We froze while we walked down the Las Vegas strip...we ended up taking a bus back to the hotel because we were so cold.

We made a quick stop here for our husbands...I mean, the kids. ;)

This was the New York, New York hotel...quite amazing.

...and a view of the Las Vegas strip.

This was the highlight of the trip for me and it didn't happen in Vegas. I was talking to Gabe while I was there and below is our conversation. :)
"Mommy, guess wwwhat?"
"What Gabe?"
"We have a suuurrrprise for you?"
"You do? Are you supposed to be telling mommy this surprise?"
Then I hear Jeremy in the background saying....Gaabe
Then Gabe goes, "We got you ffflooowers."

This doesn't do it justice, but it was the sweetest thing ever!

So, you may be wondering what Claire has been up to? Well, let's see...she loves wearing Gabe's shoes around the house...

She loves to climb into things...the drawers...

baskets...

even the dishwasher...yes, she is busy...but they are both as cute as ever! :)

And, finally, a short video of us trying to get Claire to give us her furrowed brow/raised brow technique (aka. The Carpenter Scowl)...it is too, too cute.

Sleeping...

2009-02-07T20:39:00.000-08:00

I don't know what it is about children sleeping, but I just love it. It is not because we have free time when they go to bed or take a nap...it's because their sweet peacefulness melts my heart. I just want to crawl in with them and snuggle with them forever. Well, these pictures are from last summer, but I had to share...they are just too cute and sweet. :)

I'm pretty sure that my parents took a picture of me just like this when I was little. The only difference was that I had a baby doll and Gabe has Cranky the Crank. ;)

This one is just too funny! Claire loved the swings and was so comfortable she just fell asleep...love it!

When Gabe isn't chasing the dogs around the house and pulling their tails he does this...falls asleep right next to them.

Just a sweet moment of Claire snuggling with her little blankie...they grow way too fast.

A visit to Ohio...

2009-02-02T21:13:00.001-08:00

Jeremy and I took the kids for a weekend trip to Ohio. My niece, Megan, just had her baby boy, Kobi, a week ago (pictures to come soon ;) and we wanted to meet him. My auntie (aka. Deanna) also came from Washington to visit. We had a wonderful time visiting with family...it's always good to be home.

My sister-n-law, Tamala, and I...

Claire and daddy...

My auntie, Deanna, and I...

My mama and I...

My niece, Megan, and I...

Gabe and his sweet, sweet smile...

Claire was rather tuckered after a busy weekend...she crashed within minutes of being in the car.

Gabe...back to normal

2009-02-02T20:31:00.000-08:00

Before...

After...just a little bandage

I guess you could say that Gabe is back to his normal self...although I'm not sure that he truly ever needed to recover. ;) We went to the hospital Thursday morning and Gabe was quite patient until we went back to the room that had the bed. He told us that he didn't want to take a nap. ;) The nurse asked if he would like to ride in the bed or have mommy walk him back. Of course, he said he wanted to go with mommy until we mentioned him treating the bed like a train. That was all he needed. He rode the "train" with ease and didn't rebel at all. The anesthesiologist said that he did extremely well once he was back there. They used a gas mask to put him to sleep and he didn't fight them with it at all. Thankfully, the hospital had sent us a video to watch and that made all of the difference. The doctor said that everything went well. Once we headed back to the recovery room the nurse asked if he would like some crackers...Gabe said he wanted fries. No, our children do not live on fast food. However, we did tell him that he could eat whatever he wanted since he couldn't have any breakfast or lunch. Before we left the hospital, Gabe had cheese crackers, teddy grahams and some sprite. He was rather excited that he got to choose a prize for being such a good patient. From there we headed to McD's and got him some fries, nuggets and a sprite...he ate everything! We got home and he was ready to go...played with legos, Claire and ran around the house. He was good to go and we are so thankful! A big thanks to everyone who prayed...your prayers were felt.

Below are a few shots from later that afternoon...Claire talking on her phone. ;)

Claire's favorite place to be...

Gabe was playing "king and princess" with Claire...she wanted to switch roles...or maybe that was Gabe. ;)

Check out Claire...

2009-01-26T15:00:00.001-08:00

I just posted new pics of Claire on our blog...go check them out. So, cute....

www.carpenterpd.com/blog

Random...

2009-01-25T13:14:00.000-08:00

Here are a handful of random pictures to share with you. I will get in the swing of things soon... :)

This was the night of Claire's birthday...I will share her birthday party pictures soon.

This was the picture that Gabe drew of Daddy while we waited for our food...

Claire figured out how to climb on Gabe's train table today...all by herself. She had a lot of fun rearranging everything!

Gabe with his cousin, Caleb! They have a blast together...
Yes, I love to climb in, on, and into everything!!
Claire having some lovin' time with Grandpa.
This picture is from Christmas time in Ohio...

Claire trying on Mommy's Uggs...
It is hard to believe that Gabe has loved his trains for almost 3 years. There have been very few weeks where he hasn't actually played with them. Below he is not sleeping...just watching them pass by.
And a prayer request...Gabe has a cluster of capillaries on the tip of his nose. He will be going in this Thursday to have it removed. We would appreciate your prayers...

That's it for now...until next time.

For a long time...

2009-01-24T22:09:00.001-08:00

I have been wanting to start a blog highlighting Gabe and Claire's special moments. Our photography blog is beyond wonderful, but I am guessing that our clients and potential clients may tire of seeing our children every other post. ;) So, I decided to do it. I also wanted this to be a way for our family and friends to capture a glimpse of our day to day and to help me remember all of the things I may forget as they grow before our eyes. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by! :)