Saturday, February 27, 2010

Be like children

Tonight at church, I was so proud of my little Clare she walked up to Communion all by herself and had her arms faithfully crossed over her little chest. She smiled up at Father Wood as he blessed her and on her way back to where we were sitting, she let go of my hand turned around and shouted; "Bye Jesus!" and smiled real big and was looking right up at the crucifix hanging over the alter and the tabernacle. I just love to watch her innocent and pure love for Jesus it is so special.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Florida!

So I am excited to announce, we are going to Florida to visit Josh on the 25th of March and will be returning that following Tuesday the 30th. Anna and Jan will be joining Clare, Paul and I. I am so excited, we are staying an extra day to tour the beautiful city of St. Augustine and so we won't be rushed like we were last time. Hopefully the weather will be nice and the kids will be well. I am eager and anxious to see Josh, I am sure he is well but have not heard from him since December. I think this trip will be a good time for us to all spend time together and really focus on the kids. Clare is at a great age to interact with her Daddy!

Keep us in your prayers!

Love,
Mandy

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Monday, February 22, 2010

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Happy Birthday!








Clare Noelani turns 2! What?

My little Clare is turning two on Thursday. I can't believe she is so big and turning two already. We had a little celebration for her on Sunday and I will post some pics and a video soon. Some recap info on little Clare-

Clare was born Feb 18, 2008 and was 7 pounds 11 oz and 20 inches long. I already have forgotten what time it was.
Labor was easy and uneventful.
Josh and I decided to name her Clare Noelani. Clare means bright and is typically associated with purity. Noelani is very special to us since it is Hawaiian for "Heavenly mist" or "Beautiful girl from Heaven."
Clare started smiling when she was two months old, laughing at three months old, rolled over at four months, cut her first tooth at 4 1/2 months old, crawling at 5 1/2 months, took her first steps at 9 months and walked at 11 months. Clare said her first word around the same time she walked, which of course was "Da Da" Our favorite word she said was "Pum Pum" for Grandpa. She started really talking when she was about 20 months old.
I am so blessed to have her in my life. Clare is a spunky, beautiful, good natured little girl. I am proud of her and love her so much.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Moo Cow

Yesterday, We took Clare and Paul to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and the Cow Mascot came over to our table and Clare FREAKED out. She jumped in my lap and was shaking say "no mommy, no moo cow, ouchie, ouchie" It was pretty sad, for the rest of the day she would say "Clare scurred moo cow."

Sorry I update my blog so much - a lot of it is for Josh and so I don't forget the cute things they do.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Kid's say the darndest things!

Clare has really started talking these past few months and she makes me laugh all day long.

Here are some things I never want to forget she did or said!

1. After Clare goes potty in the big girl potty she almost always turns around a dips her hand in then makes the sign of the cross...of course something I do not encourage (at least not with the potty) however, I can't help but laugh, so she thinks its ok...

2. When Clare counts it goes like this "one, teww, tree, foh, five, teight, sesen, teight, sesen, six, ten! OR one time she said "one, two, three, four, five umm umm uhhh...Amen!"

3. Clare has gotten in the habit of adding "unsies" on the end of everything i.e. alldunsies or jumpsies, or lovesies.

4. When we were singing barney's theme song "I love you, you love me" we came to the part that goes "with a great big hug..." and Clare sang "with a great big NOTHING!" haha...kinda rude but made me laugh.

5. Clare likes to fake cry as well so often times I will find her playing with her baby holding it and rocking and fake crying.

6. Clare's latest cutsy thing to do is, she will pull something from behind either her ear or someone elses and say "*gasp* Surprise!" She is definitely her father's child.

I can't wait for her and Paul to interact!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

One whole year


Well, today marks the a full year of Josh being with Comunita Cenacolo. This past year has been a crazy, eventful and blessed one. Clare turned one this time last year. In April I welcomed Joshua Paul who has been such a beautiful, healthy little boy. Also in April Josh's father, Doug traveled to visit Josh in the Community, which was a good experience for both of them. I spent most of the year living with my parents and taking care of Clare and Paul just adjusting to our new situation. In June we welcomed my sister Kristen's little baby boy, Benjamin Travis Otto, who has been such a little blessing (actually he is pretty big). I spent most of September and October taking a course to be certified as a Nursing Assistant which was a busy but good experience. Clare, Paul and I met Josh's Mother Jan in Dallas during the month of November and travelled to see Josh for one weekend. It was amazing to see Josh and his progress over this past year. Clare was overjoyed to hold her Daddy and Josh was eager to meet his son Paul. After seeing Josh, we then travelled to Oklahoma and spent about two weeks with Josh's family. We were happy to meet Abby who was born this past year as well and Titus. Abby is Josh's twin brother Jon's daughter and Titus is Josh's older brother Stephen's son, who is just about three weeks older then Paul. We spent Thanksgiving in Oklahoma with all the Oklahoma relatives and Clare and Paul received lots of attention which gave me a much needed break! :) Josh and I are unsure of his plans for exiting community, we don't want it to be premature, but we think it will be late this year, but could be longer. I made the decision to move back to Oklahoma to work and potentially go back to school. We recently just got settled in with Josh's parents and youngest sister Anna. I have been looking into various programs, and think I will pursue personal training, in the meantime I am just looking for positions as a Nurses Assistant. Clare and Paul are doing really great, Clare is potty training and Paul is on the verge of walking. We are looking forward to visiting Josh again in April. Thanks for all the love, prayers, advice, and support. I especially appreciate all my family has done for me in this past year and will never forget it.

God bless!


Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Move to OKC

Well, just checkin in...

Paul, Clare and I just recently moved back to OKC and hopefully I will begin school soon. Clare is talking up a storm and lil Paul is really close to walking and has taken a few steps with no assistance! Keep us in your prayers!

Love,
The Hinkles!