Here's Klaire...31 weeks

Klaire weighed in at around 4lbs yesterday! She is definatly bigger than sweet little Karoline! Dr. Clark said to plan on welcoming Klaire to the world on Good Friday! Happy Easter to us!!!

This is Klaire looking right at the camera. Her arm is coming over her face.
Can you see her eyelashes?
Her profile.
...and again
...and again!

This video is of the sonogram. If you watch close you can see her mouth moving like she is talking and her heart is beating! That's my favorite part! I love the heart beating!

Just a few sweet pictures

I love the smirk as she was reading! She is all about her books! It was a long day!
Playing peek a boo with Mimi!
Snuggling with Mr. Dangles every night!I could eat her up with a spoon!

Our Weekend!

Here's the run down of the weekend for the Billups' clan...

Thursday...Jared leaves straight from work to head to Canton for Phil's party #2 till Friday afternoon. The girls stick around the church and have dinner with the Stanphill's at Rancho till about 8:30. We head home to greet 19 million ants who have invaded our house. I thought they were gone but apparently not! I cleaned out the bathtub full of ants and before I could get Karoline ready for the tub (like maybe 5 minutes) it was full of ants again!!! So...I cleaned again quickly and VERY quickly washed my sweet baby girl! Poor Karoline, she totally didn't understand why she wasn't getting to play with her toys in the water. This was not normal bath fun for her! We got out and prepared ourselves for bed! Diaper, lotion, PJ's, milk, book, babies and we were ready for the zzz's. We laid in bed watching Disney Playhouse (Thank you TIVO!) until she finished her milk. Being the angel she is, all she wants after milk is her own bed and for me to let her be, so...I laid her in bed and kissed her cheeks. After shutting down the house for the night, praying for the ants to take a hike and having some time alone in my chair, I walked the long hallway to a lonely bed. Jay, Conan and I had some good laughs before I fell asleep.

Friday...Now you have to remember that I don't get my babies ready every morning since I leave so early for school, so when I have to...well, let's just say I am not quite with it! We arose and left the house in one piece at 6:45am so that I could drop off my sweet girl with Michelle before school. Praise Jesus for blessing me with friends that are so willing to help out at any time day or night! I headed to work after realizing that I was out of gas. At 7:10am, I stopped and got just enough gas for the day. This was the morning of all the sleet and freezing rain! Work was fantastic!

Friday night...Our wonderful friend Lib came over at around 5:30pm and watched our baby girl so that we could enjoy Phil's rehearsal dinner without chasing the peanut around the room. We enjoyed some great fellowship, fajitas, cheesecake and peach tea! Yum!!!

Saturday morning...Jared, Karoline and I headed to the infamous Irving mall for a breakfast date and morning shopping trip! I love Saturdays for this very reason! We get to be a family! I found K a sweet little dress for the wedding that evening, I got some new black pants because it was just too cold for the skirt that was previously planned and J got some news "wedding" shoes and belt. Can I just say how handsome he looked?!!!?!!! After heading home, we cleaned up and did some much needed laundry while K took a nap.

Saturday night...Jared headed to the church for pictures around 3:30 as K and I started to get fancy! I must say...we looked like a million bucks! (Pics will have to come later). Karoline wore her first big girl "poofy" dress! She hated it, which I guess was a bit funny but she got used to it after awhile. We arrived at the wedding around 4:20, which I thought was early but there were already a ton of people there! Thanks to Phil's mom for hiring a babysitter for the service! After pictures were done, we headed to the reception at the Las Colinas Country Club. It was just beautiful! Tons of food, cake, people, dancing and lights! We had a wonderful time celebrating Phil and Holly! They both looked amazing in every way! Karoline ate so much food! She danced with her daddy all night long and would have a fit when he tried to go sit down. I love it! She finally laid her head on my should around 9:45pm and went to sleep. I love it too! We lit our sparklers around 10:15pm and wished the newlyweds luck! I think we finally arrived back at our casa around 11pm and hopped in bed! Oh, how I love bed with a warm snuggly hubby!

Sunday morning...J and I woke up about 6:30 and got him ready for church since we didn't do everything the night before. Breakfast had to be made and clothes had to ironed, showers taken, hair fixed and well you know the routine! I got him out the door at around 7:30 so that he could begin his morning church duties. K woke up about 8am and we enjoyed some sweet time of milk, cereal and Backyardigans. We dressed and headed off to worship. Sunday school went great, church went great, lunch with friends (thanks here to Lib!) was yummy at Red, Hot and Blue!

Sunday afternoon..We went to the grocery store to shop for the week. Is it just me or does my bill get bigger and bigger every week? Maybe I should become a coupon queen? On our way home, we drove through some neighborhoods that we would like to live in to see what houses were for sale. Not too much. My in-laws called about 3:45pm to inform us that they were on their way to our house to play with Karoline. We booked it home just in time to throw the laundry in the backroom and wipe down the table. Who wants their house to look like Kansas when their mother-in-law comes over??? NOT ME! Jared doesn't really understand this unsaid concept of needing your mother-in-law to think you are doing a great job of taking care of her baby. She would never say anything but sometimes looks could make you pass out! I haven't gotten one yet, but I think it's because she is too sweet!!! Is this just me too??? Anyways, they stayed from about 4pm-5:30 when bible study with the middle school girls started. It was kinda nice that they played with the peanut while I prepared and put away groceries!

Sunday night...The girls arrived just on time at 5:30 just cookies (thanks sarah!) and brownies (thanks allie!). They all headed to the kitchen to enjoy some milk with their snacks before we began. This week we studied "Mighty to Save" by Hillsong! I have been so amazed by their insights to lyrics. They can be so much deeper than they let on! After the study, one of my girls laid on my belly and talked to Klaire for what seemed like forever while the girls played a round of Disney Scene It! I love that the Lord has given me a relationship with so many young girls that I feel comfortable and they feel comfortable in my home! Jared and K came home and we all three enjoyed a late dinner, bath (just k and I), and bed time routine! Around 9:30pm, we were ALL sound asleep in our beds!

Here's to a weekend full of life!!!!

Singer in Training

We are growing our own little singer at home! She only knows one note but it's the most beautiful note in the world!

Karoline is a bit obsessive about the microphone!
and again...
and again! This is daily at our house!

*I will try to capture a shot of her Daddy using the microphone when Karoline's not looking! He claims he is "teaching" her!

I just gotta brag!!!

Jared just called and said that he made all A's in his classes last semester!!! He has worked SO hard to finish his Masters!!! This is the last semester and he will graduate in May!!! Pray for him to be diligent and steadfast in his studies this semester as the Lord continues to grow him! Graduating with HONORS is looking more and more REAL for him!!!

I am SO proud!!! Go Jared Go!!!

***I just realized that Karoline's leg is caught up so...yes, I know it look like she has one leg!

Before I was a Mom...

This sweet poem came across my email today...

Before I was a Mom I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom -I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put him down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much.I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom -I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom -I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache,the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

Welcome to Toddler World!

We went shopping last night and got Karoline her "big girl" car seat! She is growing so fast! I can't believe that she is already facing forward! It is so strange to look behind me and have her looking back! I think she likes it though. As we were driving home, she would scream and when we would turn around she would wave and just smile. This happened quite a few times before we began to ignore her which did not go over well!