YEE HAW!

Stats!

2012-01-10T20:52:00.002-06:00

Both kids had doctor's appointments today. It was Chase's 5 year checkup and Chloe's 18 month checkup. Here are their stats and percentiles!

Chloe
Weight: 29 lbs 6 oz (95%)
Height: 2' 8" (82%)
Head: 18.25" (43%)

Chase
Weight: 42 lbs 4 oz (60%)
Height: 3' 8" (69%)
Head: 20.75" (49%)

Happy New Year!

2012-01-07T19:30:00.001-06:00

I rang in the New Year in Las Vegas with one of my BFF's, Katie! While we were there we did a lot of shopping and a little gambling.

We also saw a couple of shows, one of which was the Marc Savard Comedy Hypnosis show. We had to get the souvenir photo:

I actually got brave enough to go up on stage and be hypnotized! Here I am with the rest of my group. We were hypnotized to make an ugly face with our hands when he said, "Smile!"

We also visited the Bellagio while we were there, to check out their winter display...

...and one of my favorite things ever, the Bellagio fountain show! Unfortunately the drunken idiots behind us ruined some of the magic for me, but at least I got to see it again:

And then of course for New Year's Eve we had to get all dressed up and hit the town! We met some great people and laughed a lot!

I hope everyone had as awesome a New Year's as I did! What a way to start the new year! Goodbye 2011, Helloooo 2012!!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T23:15:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas! Brian had the kids Christmas morning and I couldn't wait for them to come over and help me tear into the presents under the tree this afternoon!

My cat was nice enough to get me something:

And I LOVED what he got me! An archival storage binder for my Broadway playbills! How did he know?!?

My mom made me a fabulous quilt, which I curled up under tonight in front of the TV!

Chloe got a baby doll from her Grandma Koch, which she loves:

She had a blast pushing her around in her new shopping cart:

Grandma also got her a couple pair of shoes I wish came in my size!

Chase got a couple Beyblades... his new obsession. I had no idea what these were until a kid got him some for his birthday, but they are pretty cool.

We got a lot of games this year, which we love!

Chase also got a remote control car, which he loved...

...but Chloe did not!

Merry Christmas! There are more photos in our Photo Album if you're interested!

School Pictures

2011-12-23T09:39:00.004-06:00

The kids had their winter school pictures taken and I just had to share! Chase is flashing some sort of gang sign, but other than that they turned out pretty cute. Enjoy!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Big Birthday Bash!

2011-12-18T18:25:00.000-06:00

Today was Chase's big birthday party at the planetarium. My motherly baking duty turned out pretty decent this time... WOO HOO!! Meet my aliens!

Chase requested another trick candle for his cupcake and he was super excited to blow it out again!

Then we opened presents. Chase was most excited about the $10.00 bill he got, and it was hard to get him to let go!

I personally liked the Spiderman mask the best!

Chloe entertained herself with balloons...

...while Chase and his crew watched a couple shows!

The kids had a great time! Happy Birthday (again), Chase!

Happy 5th Birthday, Chase!

2011-12-16T21:30:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it. Chase is FIVE. How did this happen? When he got up this morning he asked me to measure him because he was sure he grew taller overnight.We had a low-key birthday with a small cake and presents, because his big birthday bash is Sunday at the planetarium.

The face on this cake cracks me up. I think it's me saying, "Seriously? Five?!? Omigod omigod omigod omigod...." We bought it from Wal-Mart (Chase picked it out!) because I decided to save my traditional motherly baking duty for the big party Sunday (so check back then for pictures... and pray they turn out better than Chloe's did)! I did have a little fun with trick candles, though, which turned out to be a hilarious hit!

After cake we opened presents. He got a "huggy monster" from his Grandma Koch, which he loved...

...and Chloe loved!

She got her own this summer from her Aunt Julia, but apparently now she thinks she has TWO! That's OK, because Chase plays with hers all the time, too. Huggy Monsters are apparently very popular.

Anyway, the birthday festivities have just begun. Check back in a couple days to find out how the big planetarium party went!

Happy Birthday, my little man!

Oh, and there are more pictures in our Photo Album if you're interested!

Conversations With a 4-Year-Old: Growing Up

2011-12-13T18:27:00.000-06:00

Short and sweet:

ME: Chase, you're acting like you're 2 years old.

CHASE: No, YOU are!

ME: Exactly.

Chase will be five in three days, so this may be his last "Conversations With a 4-Year-Old" post. My baby is growing up (well, in numbers anyway... the conversation today says differently)!

I love irony.

Let the Holidays Begin!

2011-12-03T20:17:00.001-06:00

Today I took the kids to pick out a Christmas tree. In the rain. Fun times! But I knew if I didn't do it this weekend I wouldn't be able to do it for two more weeks... and that just wasn't an option!

First of all, I found out today that my son has expensive taste in Christmas trees. But he finally chose one we could afford and they strapped it on top of my car. I pulled into my driveway, took the kids inside and then looked back at the car, thinking, "How am I going to do this by myself?" I was most concerned about getting it off the car without it falling on my head.

Well, I'm happy to report that I DID IT! And without any cussing, even! It was a proud moment. So I took a picture:

After the kids' naps we decorated it with the lights Chase picked out (I was voting for the white lights look, but... *sigh*... kids always win). Chase helped put the ornaments on while Chloe took them all off (so it took awhile)! The tree looks pretty funny in the light, without any ornaments on the bottom!

When it got dark Chase turned off all the lights and it was so sweet to watch them both totally enthralled by the tree:

Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-25T20:33:00.000-06:00

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was very nice. I made a lasagna, figuring the kids wouldn't eat turkey, anyway (and I'm not really a big fan of it myself). Turns out Chase was very disappointed we didn't have turkey because somewhere he learned that you have to have turkey on Thanksgiving! Great. Guess what I have to do next time? Anyway, we invited Daddy over and we all ate together, which was nice.

I decided to tackle another creative holiday treat, but these were much easier and Chase got to help! Chloe watched, while whimpering because she wanted to taste. Well, Chase whimpered for that reason, too.

Do you like our pilgrim hats?

This year I am thankful for so much: My beautiful children, Brian for being so involved in their lives, my friends and family, my health, my job.... There's just so much to be thankful for.

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

God of Patience

2011-11-11T21:04:00.001-06:00

So I made a little movie about the drama-filled relationship that has blossomed between my daughter and my cat. I hope you enjoy it!

Trick or Treat!

2011-10-31T18:35:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween! Brian brought the kids over to my house before trick-or-treating so I could get some pictures of them in their costumes. I made Chase's costume again this year and Brian was in charge of Chloe's.

Chase obviously chose his costume, and he also chose Chloe's to match. I am proud to say that BOTH of our kids won the best costume awards in their classes this year! That's twice in a row for Chase (SCORE)! Yes, I'm proud. Anyway, I present to you... Mario and Princess Peach!

(I posted both of those pictures to show how impossible it is to get both of them smiling at the same time! When one is happy, the other is either unhappy or making a crazy face. Ah, well.)

Then we attempted one with me! Chloe would not stay still, and Chase just watched our struggle, apparently enjoying the show:

(He looks like a little farmer! Ha ha!)

We took a ton of photos, hoping to get just one decent one. This is the last one we took, which is a pretty good reflection of how we were laughing at the pure insanity of the wiggle worm situation:

Chloe had a great time playing with the pumpkins on the porch, and decided Chase's jack-o-lantern was a chair! Chase was not a fan of that idea ("No, Chloe! You're going to squash it!!").

More photos are in our Photo Album if you're interested. Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Eve!

2011-10-30T19:56:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is Halloween! We had an eventful weekend preparing for the day.

My amazing friend Katie came for the weekend and I made her be domestic with us. I mean, we had pumpkin carving that had to be done! Chase was so sweet at the pumpkin patch. I picked my pumpkin out right away, and so did he... but then it took forever for Chase to find the perfect pumpkin for his baby sister. It was so sweet because nothing he found was good enough for her. I'm so glad we finally found one that was up to his standards!

My mom made me a "pumpkin carving apron" (because she knows I don't do much of anything else in the kitchen that would warrant an apron) and Chase loved it, so he got to wear it:

Gutting is the fun part (ha!) but Chase does not like to touch the goo. Katie gutted Chloe's and Chloe just sat there and watched us all get messy!

Chase got to design his own jack-o-lantern face this year, and he also drew his sister's!

And here are the finished products! All original artwork by the three (OK, two of the three) C's, with special thanks to Katie, our gutter/carver assistant!

After pumpkin carving we started working on cupcakes! Now, you know my history with cupcakes... it's hit or miss. This year I decided to make jack-o-lanterns, which required a lot of candy carving... which Katie was so kind to help me with!

We screwed up the first batch of orange frosting trying to get the right color, and on the second attempt I still didn't get it the color I wanted (it looks a bit like silly putty) but it works:

Then last night Katie and I went to a Halloween party! We were the cutest ceiling fans EVER:

I can't wait for you all to see the kids in their costumes tomorrow! They are going to be so cute! (Oh, the suspense!)

More photos of our weekend are in our Photo Album if you're interested!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-15T15:12:00.001-05:00

I took the kids to the Harker Heights Pumpkin Patch Carnival today, and the kids had tons of fun! Chase had a great time in the bouncy houses, while I chased Chloe around the pumpkin patch:

A nice lady saw us roaming around and offered to take our picture:

Chase invented a game for his sister where he would "hide" a pumpkin in the path and then say, "Chloe, look!" to watch her run for it. It was so cute.

I tried to get the cute "kids in the pumpkin patch" shot, but, well... I wasn't quite successful:

(But I do love that shot nonetheless, because it makes me laugh!)

We also went on a hay ride. After we boarded, the guy working it offered to take pictures for anyone who wanted them. He got to us and I gave him the camera, only to get this shot in return. I'm not quite sure who he thought he was supposed to be taking a picture of here:

Thank goodness for cropping!

We decided to try to take one ourselves:

Ah, well.... It is what it is!

It was a fun day, though hot! It still feels weird to do Halloween stuff in the heat! I miss my chilly fall weather from up north!

More pics of our day are in our Photo Album if you're interested!

Chloe's 15 Month Stats

2011-10-15T14:36:00.001-05:00

Chloe had her 15 month checkup last week. Here are her stats!

Height: 31.25" (71st percentile)
Head: 18.25" (60th percentile)
Weight: 27 lbs 1 oz (93rd percentile)

My baby girl is chubby-licious!

Last night we went to a birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese for one of Chase's friends. Chloe is fearless, and she ran around like she owned the place. She climbed right up on the merry-go-round as it was moving and rode the horses around and around and around again. Of course I couldn't get her to look at the camera but at least you can see her reflection in the mirror here!

A random little kid came up to me at one point and said, "She has a big belly, doesn't she?" I said, "Yes, she does!" and he said, "Maybe you should buy her a bigger shirt."

Thanks, kid.

Beiber Hair

2011-10-01T20:33:00.002-05:00

So the other day as Chase was brushing his teeth I was messing with my hair in the mirror. Chase looked up, mouth full of toothpaste, and said, "MOM! You look like Justin Beiber!"

Then things just got silly!

Flashback!

If you want to see more of our crazy photo shoot, look in our Photo Album!

P.S. This is like my fifth post of the day (it's "blog update day!") so check out the previous posts if you haven't already!

Conversations With a 4-Year-Old: Costume Choices

2011-10-01T19:41:00.002-05:00

It's about that time of year! Chase needs to decide what he wants to be for Halloween so I can do my motherly duty and make his costume. As usual, he keeps changing his mind. So I just keep asking, because eventually he will land on one costume and make a decision. Until then, I am going to post all the answers that come out of his mouth as they happen. Ready? Chase's answers to "What do you want to be for Halloween?"

Transformer
Ghost (again!)
Butterfly
Mermaid
Electrical pole (I kind of hope he picks this one!)
Construction cone (Ooookay...)
Construction cone with a spider on his head (I have no idea where he comes up with this stuff)
Mario (from Mario Brothers)

I will keep this list updated as I get more responses!

Morning People We Are Not

2011-10-01T15:06:00.000-05:00

I have never been a morning person. Ever. My mom and I have some horror stories we could tell about our mornings together growing up.... Mornings that involved her physically dragging me into the bathroom and closing the door (where I would turn the shower on and curl up on the bath mat to go to sleep again). Any roommate I have ever had can vouch for the fact I had an obsession with my snooze bar (sorry to those of you who had to live with that!). I STILL hate mornings. But now I have to worry about getting my own kids up and around in the morning. And it looks like my mom was right when she said, "One day you're going to have a child just like you!" It's the ultimate payback, I guess.

Chase is impossible to get up in the morning. When I have him during the week we have to leave the house by 7am, and it takes him at least 45 minutes to get ready. It's ridiculous. When I go in there at 6:15 to gently wake him up he yanks the covers up over his head and yells things like, "Leave me alone!" or "It's still dark outside!" or "I'm tired!" or "You're not my friend!" And then I spend the next 45 minutes yelling things like, "Chase, hurry up!" or "Brush your teeth!" or "Stop entertaining your sister and EAT!" or "Apparently you're going to go to daycare in your PJ's today.... Get your shoes on!"

So I decided the kid needed to be introduced to the alarm clock. I talked to him about how he's getting bigger, and grown-ups use an alarm clock in the morning, and isn't that cool? Ha. Anyway, he seemed to think it was cool so I put his clock radio on a loud country station and set it for 6:00, figuring it would give him some time to slowly wake up on his own. I set out his clothes and told him when he was ready in the morning to put them on.

The next morning I got out of the shower at 6:15 and thought, "OK... moment of truth!" I was looking forward to hearing that country music blaring, but when I walked out of the bathroom I heard nothing. Huh. That's weird. I walked down the hall toward his room and it was completely dark. I looked at the clock and saw that familiar blinking dot I know so well.

My 4-year-old found the snooze button.

I said, "Chase, what happened?" and he barked at me, "I turned it OFF, MOM!"

Now, I will say... things have gotten better. He no longer hits the snooze (after I explained he could just lay in bed and listen to the music for awhile), but he still doesn't get up on his own. I taught him how to read the clock, and he knows he has three jobs to do before 7:00, and must do them in this order: clothes, teeth, breakfast. He lives for breakfast, so it seems to be a good incentive to hurry up and get those other two things done so he can eat.

I'm trying to train him now so I don't have to drag him into the bathroom every morning like my mom had to. Ha! We'll see how that plan works out....

Fun at the Park

2011-09-25T14:32:00.000-05:00

We had a playdate at the park with Chase's friend Ryan today! The kids had tons of fun kicking a soccer ball around and playing on the swings:

I also took Chloe over to the little playset just to see how she would do and the girl was fearless... climbing all over the thing on her own and even trying to walk down the slide (we had a couple close calls)! I snapped some cute photos of her playing:

There are more photos in our Photo Album if you're interested!

Kickball!

2011-09-22T14:11:00.000-05:00

Chase started kickball, and he LOVES it! I am so impressed the game is able to hold his attention. He works so hard and listens so well. When I picked him up from daycare for his second practice he screamed out, "YAY!!!! I LOVE KICKBALL!" The next day when I picked him up he said he was excited for another kickball practice. When I told him we don't practice every day he burst into tears. Here are some photos from his first practice. There are more in our Photo Album if you're interested:

Chloe just runs around looking cute and making people laugh the whole time (and she's super good at that, too):

Sprinkler Park

2011-09-10T22:28:00.000-05:00

OK, OK.... I need to be better about updating the blog, I know. I have a few posts to catch up on, so I'll take baby steps!

"Today" (I'm cheating... I'm backdating this post about 3 weeks) we went to the sprinkler park with our friends Erin (my friend) and Nathan (Chase's friend). That's the beautiful thing about living in Texas... you can still run around in sprinklers in mid-September. Anyway, the kids had a lot of fun. Erin took all the pictures and she has had technical difficulties getting them all to me, but I'll go ahead and post the couple I have and hopefully I can update with more later.

I totally don't know what the boys are doing in this photo, but it's pretty cute! Click on the photo to get a better look:

Fall in Texas is fabulous!

San Antonio Visit

2011-08-16T21:13:00.001-05:00

I just got this picture from my aunt, so I had to post it! I went to San Antonio a week and a half ago to help my friend Katie move, and to visit with my aunt and uncle! We had a lot of fun. They took me to dinner on the river walk and we did a lot of catching up. We hadn't seen each other in 8 years! Crazy. We had a great time and will definitely see each other more often now that they live closer.

The rest of my weekend was spent helping Katie move. Now, usually moving isn't a fun process, but we had a really good time! I friend who can make moving fun is a true friend indeed!

Look Who's Walking!

2011-08-14T14:46:00.000-05:00

Go, Chloe!!

Random Update Time!

2011-08-11T21:43:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I've posted, so it's time for some random updating!

I'll start with Chloe. She is now eating "people food" and LOVES it. She rarely turns anything away. Her favorite foods are yogurt and Cheerios (if they are anywhere around her she will beg for them), but she loves just about everything else I give her, too. We experiment with the spoon sometimes and she has lots of fun with that, too:

Chase also LOVES to feed her. He wants to share all his food with her (and she doesn't mind)! It's so cute:

She took her first steps a couple weeks ago, on her 13 month "birthday" (July 30th). She hasn't done a lot of venturing out on her own since then, but she'll take a couple steps here and there if you prompt her. She says "Uh, oh," "Night Night" (occasionally), "Mama" and "Dada," and she's working on "All done." "Uh oh" is by far my favorite!

Chase has been enjoying daycare and had lots of fun during "Pirate Week!"

Today he got a wonderful surprise. Grandma made him an amazing quilt and pillowcase set. I cried when I got it, and Chase loved it, too!

Both kids took swim lessons this summer. I had a video to show you but for some reason it doesn't play all the way through. It must be corrupt or something. Bummer! Chloe LOVES the water. Chase took awhile to get comfortable, but by the end he was almost swimming on his own!

I feel like I've been all over the place this summer. Besides the trips to New York and Idaho I blogged about, I spent several weekends in Houston visiting my dear friend Katie (before she moved to San Antonio), saw friends Don and Julie in Austin, went to a Theatre Educators conference in Waco, and saw my aunt and uncle in San Antonio (while I was there helping Katie move)! When I wasn't traveling I spent quality time with new friends and took up running (well, training to become a runner... we'll see how that goes)! It's been a great summer, but now it's time to get back to the "real world." I go back to school Monday! I'm ready.

Idaho Family Visit

2011-07-21T16:01:00.001-05:00

This post is long overdue, but I was waiting to get photos from my mom and then I had to organize them all (over 200)! So, to make up for my lateness, you'll be getting lots of pictures! Ready? Here goes!

The week of the 4th of July Chase, Chloe and I flew to Idaho, where my brother and his family live, and my parents drove over from Michigan so we could all visit together! It was a heck of a week. Here are some highlights.

First of all, Chloe fell in LOVE with her Uncle Jeff, right off the bat. She is normally not great with strangers, and takes awhile to warm up to them. We were there for maybe an hour and I was holding her because she wouldn't go to anyone else, when all of a sudden she lunged herself out of my arms and into Jeff's! She was all about her Uncle Jeff from that moment on, still taking the majority of the week to warm up to the rest of the family:

She was NOT, however, a fan of the grass:

Every time I bent down to put her in the grass she threw her legs up like that. I find this hilarious. When I was little I HATED the grass. My mom said if I started to fall I would throw my hands up in the air instead of catching myself because I didn't want to touch the grass. I still don't like the feel of grass today. Who knew something like that could be hereditary? Ha ha!

We started celebrating the 4th of July with some fun little fireworks in the yard:

Here we are with Aunt Julia (Jeff's wife) and all the cousins! I love this picture... the moms and all their kids!

After that we went down to the river to see the fireworks, up close and personal:

We were so close that ash actually fell into my hair, and we had a couple close calls with falling sparks. I looked over at Chase after one particular close call and he was about to cry. I said, "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you," and he said a worried, "Mom, will you save me?" and made me keep my hand on him the rest of the show.

While at Jeff and Julia's the big kids also spent time in the pool...

...while the babies watched!

After a couple days we went to Julia's family cabin, which was beautiful and full of adventure!

Chase got to ride with Uncle Jeff on a dirt bike and a 4-wheeler. I was too terrified to watch, so my mom took photos for me:

We also had a couple campfires and roasted marshmallows. Chase was fascinated with the fire. He loved to watch the sparks fly out of it. My mom snapped this picture right after he told me to watch for the sparks, and very seriously informed to "be patient, Mommy:"

We drove to Yellowstone one day. Rhianna rode with us and shared her iPod with Chase. I love this picture of them sharing headphones on the drive:

We went to the Bear and Wolf Museum, and the grandparents ended up adopting Chase for awhile, because, well.... I needed a break! (The Yellowstone trip was not Chase's shining moment.)

We had some amazing thunderstorms at the cabin, which Chase and Grandma and I all share a deep love for. Chase and Alex had fun sticking their feet outside into the pouring rain:

Then we took the kids fishing...

...but it didn't last long, because apparently Chase had forgotten that virtue of patience he preached to me earlier in the week while watching the fire! He had fun playing by the water, though:

It was a week full of adventure, for sure! The flight home was an adventure in itself, but I think I'll save that for another post. At the end of the day, family is family. You gotta love 'em!

Lots more photos are in our Photo Album if you're interested!

Chloe's 1st Haircut

2011-07-02T12:18:00.000-05:00

I took Chloe to get her first haircut yesterday. She loved it:

She literally screamed bloody murder from the second I put her in the chair until I was finally able to pick her up when she was finished. By the end she was completely folded over on top of herself, face down on the seat between her legs, reaching for me. She's a pretty easygoing child, but when she's upset she definitely gets her drama from her mama!

Anyway, this is the best picture we could get of the final product:

It isn't much shorter, but it is cleaned up and that makes mommy very happy!

This is my second post of the day. Check out the previous post if you haven't already!

Chloe Videos

2011-07-02T11:25:00.001-05:00

In celebration of Chloe's first birthday this week, I thought I'd post a couple cute video clips taken within the last couple weeks. Click the 4 arrows in the bottom right corner to see it full screen (some of her expressions are priceless)! Enjoy!

Happy First Birthday, Chloe!

2011-07-01T15:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Chloe's first birthday! I can hardly believe she is a year old already. We had a super fun day. First, we all went to the water park:

Chloe had so much fun...

...as did Chase!

(It is a huge deal that he can put his face in the water now, so we took several of these underwater pictures to encourage it!)

After the water park Daddy had to go to work and we had to take NAPS! For Chloe's birthday dinner we had spaghetti. She didn't want to eat it, just play in it:

Chase liked it, though!

When Daddy got done teaching he came over for cake and presents. Chloe opened presents first. Well, Chase opened presents for her... and he LOVED what she got!

You remember the amazing cupcakes I made, right? Well, we used a birthday candle for one of her arms. Ha ha!

Daddy got Chloe a birthday crown...

...but she wanted nothing to do with it:

She did enjoy the cake, though!

...so much so, that she went right into the bathtub afterward!

She had her 12 month doctor's appointment this morning. She is now 29" long (25-50%) and 23 pounds (75%).

I'm not even going to attempt the last "growth chart bear" picture. Can you blame me?

All the pictures from our day are in our Photo Album if you're interested.

Happy Birthday, baby girl!

Gumdrops are the Devil

2011-06-29T21:55:00.002-05:00

So in the spirit of tradition, I decided to make Chloe's first birthday cake, because it just seems like something you're supposed to do (and I did it for Chase). I am not the domestic type, but there are a few occasions where I decide it's part of my obligation as a mom to try.

I decided to make creative cupcakes for Chloe instead of a cake because it's only going to be us partying (with Dad), and I don't need to eat all the leftovers from a big cake myself (not that Chase would mind helping)!

For Chase's first birthday I made a lion cake, which turned out very well. This year I decided on princess cupcakes and I'm sad to say they did not turn out as well. OK, I'll just say it: They suck. When I made Chase's cake I made a list of the things I learned in the process. So, in the spirit of tradition (again), I decided to make a list of things I learned during this process. Here goes:

When you go to the store to get all the ingredients for your cupcakes, check your pantry before you leave.
If you're standing in the grocery store thinking, "I'm almost positive I have vegetable oil at home," you don't. Buy some.
The convenience store carries vegetable oil. And lottery tickets (so you can pay someone to make your cupcakes next time).
Gumdrops are not meant for rolling with a rolling pin.
It doesn't help if you coat them with sugar. It just makes a horrible crunching sound.
It doesn't help if you microwave them. You probably could have told me that before I tried it.
Squishing microwaved gumdrops with your finger after 15 seconds on high will produce a visible burn.
Hot gumdrops stick to wax paper and rolling pins.
Crunching sugar on hot gumdrops rips wax paper.
When you've had enough of gumdrop rolling, you may think, "Fruit roll-ups are already flat! I'll try those!"
Fruit roll-ups on cupcakes look ghetto.
When you're about to throw gumdrops at the wall you don't care anymore if your daughter's cupcakes look ghetto.
You will feel like a terrible mother for not caring whether or not your daughter's first birthday cupcakes look ghetto.
You know it's bad when your 4-year-old tells you the fruit roll-ups on the cupcakes look stupid.
4-year-olds are not good helpers.

The recipe called for rolling out gumdrops into 6" circles to make the princess dresses. It about killed me. I got two princesses done and then did the rest with fruit roll-ups. Not cute, but good for my sanity. At one point I said through clenched teeth, "Chase, I am about to scream!" I turned to look at him and he had his fingers in his ears, preparing for the worst.

Chase tried to "help." Which really meant he sat there playing with all the materials and asking a million questions:

Mom, can I have a gumdrop?
Mom, the paper is ripping!
Mom, why is the paper ripping?
Mom, the gumdrops are stuck on the rolling pin!
Mom, why are the gumdrops stuck on the rolling pin?
Mom, can I eat the gumdrops that are stuck on the rolling pin?
Mom, why can't I eat the gumdrops?
Mom, why are you getting frustrated?
Mom, can I have a gumdrop?

You get the point.

At any rate, they are done. I totally improvised on so many things, but I like to think of it as a nod to my fabulous creativity, not my laziness and lack of patience.

Here is what they should have looked like (I debated even posting this, because it really shows just how bad mine are in comparison, but whatever):

Here is one of the two I completed with the gumdrop dresses (they didn't need sleeves... it's summer):

And here are the rest (just be grateful they are clothed at all):

Not winning "Mom of the Year" for this one. And the sad part is these crappy looking things (only SIX of them) took me all day to create.

Sorry, Chloe! I tried! (It's the thought that counts?)

Broadway Bound... Again!

2011-06-28T21:04:00.005-05:00

I just got back from a long weekend in New York City with my best friend Nicole. It was the second "Broadway Trip" of ours, and we plan to take more in the future! It's kind of a tradition already: We see five Broadway shows in three days! We had so much fun (again). Here's a broad brush of our weekend adventures!

I flew to Chicago Thursday to spend a little time with Nicole, and meet the newest addition to her family! The next day we flew together to NYC! Here we are at the airport right after arrival. It's the obligatory "Welcome Photo" (we took the same one last time we went)!

We had a drink at Sardi's (we couldn't afford anything else!) and then went to our first show, Memphis:

Afterward we went to our favorite post-theatre hangout, Don't Tell Mamma's! It's an awesome piano/cabaret bar... perfect for theatre nuts like us! Here's another obligatory shot (click here for last year's)!

That night we got home at 3:30am, and the next morning we got up at 7:00 to walk through Central Park! We were so tired and walked a TON, and our bodies felt it! Along the way we found the Pop-Up Piano at Central Park, so we had to stop to play it!

And because we are a glutton for punishment, after we left Central Park we walked about 15 blocks to Bryant Park to take a modern dance class on the lawn with the Limon Dance Company. I found the class when looking for free stuff to do in NYC over the weekend, and when we got there we almost chickened out. I mean, it's a dance class in the middle of the park with tons of people hanging out all around you! I haven't had a dance class in like 15 years! But they assured us it was an easy class for any level, and we eventually just went for it. It wasn't technically difficult, but it was physically challenging (especially since we had spent the previous three hours walking)! Lots of running, skipping, galloping, jumping. And it's summer (hello)! We were sweaty and gross, and every time we bent over to stretch or something and I caught an upside down glimpse of tourists snapping photos I thought, "Whose blog is my butt going to end up on?" But it was really fun. I will never forget stretching up to the sky and seeing the skyscrapers all around us. Amazing. Here we are (completely sweaty and gross) with our instructor, the Associate Artistic Director:

We went back to the hotel to shower and then it was off to show #2, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, starring Robin Williams:

We stayed after the show to try to get Robin Williams' autograph, but he didn't come out. Bummer! The next night he just happened to walk by us as we were waiting for autographs at another show and Nicole yelled out, "Robin!" as if they were old friends. He just smiled and kept walking.

We then went down to explore Greenwich Village, but it was a last-minute decision and we didn't really know what we were doing, so we just wandered around and had dinner there, then headed back to see show #3, Catch Me If You Can (our favorite, hands down)!

We stayed after for autographs again, and this time we got Norbert Leo Butz's autograph, who I LOVE. He won a Tony for his role in the show, and he was AMAZING. We also got Aaron Tveit's autograph, who played the role of Frank Abignale, Jr.

The next morning we got up and took the subway down to the Staten Island Ferry, which provided nice views of the city and the Statue of Liberty:

The plan was to take the ferry to Staten Island and then ride the same one back, but when we got there we had to get off the ferry and wait a whole 30 minutes for the next ferry. We were really stressing about making it to the show on time! So we RAN off the boat when it got back to Manhattan, hailed a cab and told him to step on it! Thank goodness we made it to see show #4, Anything Goes:

After the show we stayed for autographs again. I got a bunch of autographs, including Colin Donnell's, who played the role of Billy Crocker. We really wanted to see Sutton Foster (Tony winner) and Joel Grey, but they didn't come out. Double bummer! Sutton Foster amazes me. She does this huge, physically demanding tap number and then sings full out like it's nothing. It doesn't even look like she's breathing heavily! Amazing.

We had to stop and take a picture of the fire station right next to our hotel that we passed every day. I love this backdrop:

Nicole had a near death experience when she wandered in front of the fire trucks as they were trying to leave to save people from a burning building, but that's another story!

We had a nice, leisurely dinner before our final show. I say "leisurely" because apparently we forgot how to tell time and we were obscenely late for the play. SO embarrassed (so embarrassed I almost didn't tell you)! Anyway, our last show of the trip (#5) was The Normal Heart. I loved what I saw of it!

There were a ton of big names in the show, so we stayed after again to get autographs. I was able to get autographs from Joe Mantello (Tony winner), John Benjamin Hickey (Tony winner), Jim Parsons and Lee Pace. I really wanted to meet Luke Macfarlane, because I'm a huge fan of his character on Brothers and Sisters, but he ran off pretty quickly. Bummer!

We obviously had a fantastic time:

But then we had to go home (another obligatory picture):

We have already started talking about what we're going to do on our NEXT trip (I can't wait)!

Like I said, this post is a broad brush of our weekend. I took lots of photos, including photos with some of the stars I got autographs from. If you want to see them, check out my Photo Album! If you need the code to get in, let me know!

Sea World!

2011-06-18T20:04:00.007-05:00

I took Chase to Sea World in San Antonio yesterday for a special "mom/son" bonding day. I got a free Fun Pass for Teacher Appreciation Week that I had to redeem in person before the end of the month, so we made a 1-day trip out of it. We had TONS of fun. Chase was awesome. I told him he could do whatever he wanted because it was our day. For awhile there I felt like I paid $55 for him to run around in sprinklers and slide down slides, but we also did other things. We saw the Shamu show, which was cool:

Sorry about the finger in the shot. We were using a disposable water camera and it was a weird experience going back to pre-digital times. You have to look through a tiny hole? What?? It was fun trying to explain to Chase how to take the picture, why we couldn't see the pictures right away, why we only had so many we could take, how we had to go to the store to get the pictures, that we weren't going to get the camera back (he was really upset about that one), etc. Anyway....

Chase really wanted to get wet, so we hurried to get to the Shamu show early so we could get a seat up front. Right when we got there he said he had to go potty so we ran to the nearest restroom. I was standing outside the stall it seemed to be taking him forever! Of course it wasn't a quick #1 potty stop, it was a #1 and a #2. So needless to say, we didn't get there in enough time to sit up front. He was really sad we didn't get wet, so we made plans to get to the dolphin show early so we could get wet there.

We did get to the "dolphin show" (which was the Azul show) early and sat in the splash zone right up front, but we still didn't get wet, which Chase was very sad about. It was an incredible show, though. They had dolphins, beluga whales, exotic birds flying in formations over the audience (thank goodness I didn't get pooped on), and amazing acrobats and aerialists. Chase was really impressed by the acrobats and we had the cutest conversation about them when I tucked him in last night:

CHASE: Those acrobats were cool, weren't they?
MOM: They were cool. Do you want to be an acrobat when you grow up?
CHASE: I don't know.
MOM: You can be whatever you want to be.
CHASE: What do you want to be when you grow up?
MOM: I'm already grown up. I'm a teacher.
CHASE: No, but you can still do it. You can be an acrobat.
MOM: I don't think I want to be an acrobat.
CHASE: Why?
MOM: Because I like teaching.
CHASE: But Mom (*insert serious face here*).... You can be whatever you want to be.
MOM: (Laughing) You're right, Chase. Thanks.
CHASE: So you will be an acrobat.
MOM: If you say so.
CHASE: And then I will be an acrobat, too, and we can jump off of tall diving boards together.
MOM: Sounds like a plan.

He wanted to stay after the show to get a picture with a few of them, but then got shy (it was also the last thing we did, so he was tired and had blisters on his feet). I am posting this picture because this post is all about our experience, though I look HORRIFIC. So I have to put a disclaimer in here because it will make me feel better: It was like a million degrees (106) and we had gotten SOAKED in the water park earlier in the day, I wore NO makeup and my hair air-dried in the wind. I think that about covers it. Here you go:

Other than those two shows we spent a lot of time at the kids sprinkler area, and I did not hold back. It was HOT. I went running around in my swimsuit right alongside Chase. It was a blast and it felt SO good!

Why does Chase's head look bigger than mine? Anyway....

This kid cracks me up with what he does with some of those sprinklers:

And because Chase was still sad about not getting soaked by the animals I took him to the bridge by that water ride where the boat falls down a ramp and splashes into the water (you know, the one where the people watching get more soaked than the people on the ride?). He LOVED it. He probably could have stayed there all day. Can you find him in this pic? He's the little one! I still can't believe the waves didn't knock him over.

And before we headed home we of course had to stop for a sweet treat!

After we pulled out of the park at the end of the day Chase was practically in mid-sentence when all went silent:

I expected him to sleep for a long time, but about 15 minutes later I heard, "Why didn't the dolphins splash us?" I asked him if he had a good nap and he said, "I didn't sleep."

Right.

I love that kid.

P.S. Did you read the hilarious thing Chase said on the way home two posts ago?

P.P.S. This is my second post of the day. Check out the previous post if you haven't already!

I Object!

2011-06-18T13:13:00.001-05:00

Chloe has finally figured out she can object to her brother being in her personal space 24/7:

She's taken a couple swings at him, too, and while we don't encourage hitting, a tiny part of me inside says, "You go, girl!" I mean, he is on top of her ALL THE TIME. Can we say personal bubble?

Another thing that cracks me up about this video is that she doesn't actually have pigtails in. Her hair stuck that way after I took the rubberbands out!

Conversations with a 4-Year-Old: Girls vs. Boys

2011-06-17T21:23:00.001-05:00

I took Chase to Sea World today (I'll post about that when I get the pictures from our disposable water camera developed) and we went into the restroom at McDonald's on the way home to pee. We both went into the stall and I went first. As I was sitting there, Chase looked at me, all serious-like, and said:

"Mom, why do girls pee out of their butts?"

I had never considered what he actually thought was going on before! Ha ha ha!

My Birthday Present

2011-06-14T20:24:00.000-05:00

Chase picked out my birthday present all by himself this year:

So when we got home from swim lessons today he wanted to play with it!

He did let me play, too. After all, it was my present! He wanted to take some pictures of me so I showed him how to work my camera. I wasn't sure what I would get, but was really surprised by his aim!

Then things got a little crazy!

I have to admit, I laughed at the gift when I opened it because it obviously wasn't for me, but I actually had a good time playing with it! It was addictive! Ha ha!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-06-13T21:27:00.000-05:00

It was my birthday Friday and I decided to spend the day celebrating with the kids at a local sprinkler park. We had so much fun! I snapped a couple pictures with my phone while we were there:

At the end of the day I took them back to their dad's and drove to Houston to spend the weekend with one of my best friends in the world, Katie! We had tons of fun and it was hard to come back last night (though having the Tony Awards waiting for me at home did help a little)!

Chloe: 11 Months

2011-05-31T16:38:00.019-05:00

Well, I did my best to get an 11 month photo with the "Growth Chart Bear," but I was about as successful as I was last time. We are still not a fan of the bear.

It seems like lately she has become especially active. She is really getting good at communicating. If you ask her for something she knows what it is, like when you say "Can I have the ball?" she'll pick up the ball (versus any of the other toys around her). One of her new favorite things is to give you stuff. She loves to hand things over to you and when you give them back sometimes you get her adorable attempt at "Thank you!" Then sometimes she'll act like she's going to give you something but holds on for dear life when you try to take it from her, and laughs ("Psych!"). It's her fun game. She also knows now what she's not supposed to do. She loves to get into my rack of CD's in the living room, and now she'll crawl over there and right before she gets to it she will turn around and flash me a, "What are you going to do about it?" grin.

It is interesting to see her interact with Chase differently, too. She now grabs all of his toys, which he HATES. And Chase has always been ALL OVER HER, and she is now starting to object more than just crying when he won't back off. She has this primitive caveman growl she'll do (and then he does it back because it makes him mad that she objects) and today she chomped her teeth at him twice, like she was threatening to bite him. I thought it was hilarious but Chase was not a fan.

Chloe does have some serious stranger anxiety. When Chase was a baby he went through the phase of clinging to me when strangers were around, but I don't remember it being as bad as it is with Chloe. It's getting a little better, but for awhile there we'd be in line at Target and the cashier would just say hi to her and she would burst into tears. I feel sorry for our babysitters because they say she screams for a LONG time after I leave, which kills me! And my daughter does have an UBER-dramatic, LOUD cry. No, more like a blood-curdling horror flick scream. It's hard not to laugh at it sometimes.

She has 5 teeth now. Maybe 6. I'm afraid to get too close to look because she does like to chomp these days! We are working on "No bite!" She is getting pretty stable on those legs, but hasn't tried to walk on her own yet. Yesterday she walked down the hall with me, with one hand holding on to my pant leg. I feel like she is permanently attached to my leg!

Well, I think that's a good update. I feel like I hadn't done one in awhile. Now.... Time for some summer fun!

We Have Babies!

2011-05-22T20:43:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago when I pulled my hanging plant down to water it I noticed birds had made a nest inside!

Today I heard a lot of commotion from birds on the front porch. I peered through the curtains to find 2 birds in the pot and one of them was feeding baby birds! Of course when they saw me they bolted (now what kind of mother just leaves her babies in the face of danger?)! But here is a little look at a couple of the babies (click the pictures for a better view!):

Now I am not a bird person, but I must admit I think this is pretty cool. My flowers are totally dead but the life within the mess is worth the eyesore!

Chase thought they were pretty cool, too.

P.S. This is my second post of the day. Check out the previous post if you haven't already!

Mommy's So Proud!

2011-05-22T09:05:00.035-05:00

We first learned on Chloe's piano...

And then we translated it to mine!

(As you can imagine, I am just slightly proud of this milestone!)

Happy Mother's Day, Grandma!

2011-05-09T20:31:00.004-05:00

I have been DYING to post this, but I had to wait until after my mom actually GOT her Mother's Day card from Chase before I posted pictures of it.

So he sat down with his crayons and paper to make a Mother's Day card for my mom, and what I thought was going to be a 15 minute deal turned into almost an hour. Now that he actually draws stuff versus just scribble it's interesting to watch him get creative. But sometimes creativity needs a little translation:

Apparently that's a music note.

If that's what was placed on my music stand my first day of 5th grade band I would have quit music forever.

(I have a much better joke, but if I post it my mom will have a heart attack.)

ANYWAY.... It's the placement that really kills me:

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

P.S. This is my second post of the day. Click the previous post to hear about my Mother's Day gift!

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

2011-05-09T20:30:00.000-05:00

Well we had an eventful Mother's Day! I asked Chase what he wanted to do for Mother's Day, because let's face it.... If the kids aren't happy, Mama's not happy! If I had done what I wanted to do, I would have had a whining 4-year-old on the floor at DSW asking me why I had to try on every single pair...!

Anyway, Chase said he wanted to go to the zoo. So on the way out of town we stopped by his daddy's house to pick up the wagon. On the way out of the neighborhood Chloe started fussing so I pulled over to mix her a bottle before we hit the road. While I was mixing the bottle I heard this horrible noise, like a lawnmower running over rocks. I looked all around because it sounded like it was about to hit us, it was so close!

It was my car.

I turned it off and on again and the battery light came on. So I thought, "I'll just drive the 1 mile back to Brian's and call someone." So I put it in drive and it wouldn't steer.

Well Brian was just down the road so he came to get the kids, I called the tow truck and watched them haul my car away. Chase was really worried about not going to the zoo so Brian was gracious enough to take us. It was HOT, but we had a nice time.

As of today I still don't have a car. Cross your fingers this isn't an expensive problem!!

Conversations with a 4-Year-Old: Yes, Ma'am

2011-05-07T23:07:00.001-05:00

Chase has started calling me "Ma'am" when I talk to him seriously about his behavior. I HATE IT. I know it's the culture down here but I really don't like it. The first time he did it I said, "You don't have to call me 'Ma'am,' Chase. Just call me 'Mom.'" He said he has to because that's what they do at daycare. I didn't really fight him on it at the time because I didn't want him to be confused about it and I wasn't sure how to handle it.

Then today he was sent to time out and after he got out we had a talk about his behavior and I asked him if he understood me. He said, "Yes, ma'am." Here's the conversation that followed:

ME: Chase, please don't call me "Ma'am."
CHASE: I can if I want to.
ME: But I don't like it. Just call me "Mom."
CHASE: I can call you "Ma'am" if I want to.
ME: OK, then I'll start calling you "Sir."
CHASE: No, don't call me "Sir." I don't like it.
ME: OK, let's make a deal. I won't call you "Sir" if you don't call me "Ma'am."
CHASE: Yes, Ma'am. (*insert eye twinkle here*)

OK, I have to give him credit. That was excellent comedy!

This is my second post today. Check out the previous post if you haven't already!

Chloe: 10 Months

2011-04-30T22:05:00.003-05:00

So I tried to get Chloe's picture with the growth chart bear but I could NOT get her to stay put long enough for me to back up and snap the photo! This is the best I could get:

Then I tried to get Chase to hold her back but that didn't even work!

They did have a fun time playing afterwards:

Here is a little look at what my drama king does to entertain his baby sister:

He is like this constantly with her (which can be exhausting!). She is usually much more entertained and laughs hysterically at him. He is her walking one-man show and no one can make her laugh like he can. Today she was not really in the mood, but the show was entertaining to me!

I love this next photo because it shows off her amazing Michelin Man arms!

Chloe pulls up all the time and has stood on her own several times. She babbles "Mama" and "Dada." Daycare says she says "Night night," but I've never heard it. Chase is obsessed with counting Chloe's words. Every time she babbles something he's convinced it's a word and he's keeping count. According to Chase, she is up to 16 words! He congratulates her all the time for learning new words. It's quite hilarious to hear what he thinks she's saying. "Mom! She just said 'sidewalk!'"

Her laugh is still priceless:

More photos of our fun around the house today are coming soon to our Photo Album!

First Pedicure

2011-04-24T22:24:00.002-05:00

Right now you are thinking one of two things:

Awwww.... Look at Chloe's pretty pink (though freakishly large) baby toes!
*gasp* She didn't!

I did.

And now we match!

In my defense, he wanted me to do it. Correction: He wanted me to paint his fingernails. Every single one of them. I proposed I would do one toe. We compromised and did all the toes. We'll just keep the summer sandals buried in the closet for awhile.

One day he's going to hate me for this post!

P.S. This is my second post of the day. See the previous post for Easter pictures!

The Easter Bunny Came!

2011-04-24T21:57:00.004-05:00

The Easter Bunny Came! Last night Chase left him this note (click on it for a larger view):

If you can't read it, here's what it says: "Please hide an egg in my room and at Daddy's house. Leave me a present please."

Well the Easter Bunny did just that! I have no idea how the big bunny got the egg in Chase's room without waking him up. After all, his door is VERY squeaky. Chase found the egg by the door so I suspect the bunny just opened the door a crack and threw it in there. Then at 5:00am I think I heard him outside hiding eggs around the yard, and at 5:30am both Chase and Chloe woke up. I was grateful the Easter Bunny got in and out of there in time! We started with the egg hunt indoors, and I think next year we will have to leave the Easter Bunny a note that Chase needs harder hiding places, because he found all the eggs within minutes and then couldn't believe there weren't more. So he proceeded to look in all the cupboards and drawers until I reminded him we hadn't looked outside yet!

I convinced him to save the outside hunt until it was not pitch black outside, so we opened Easter baskets next:

Chloe was pretty much just along for the ride. She was super tired so I put her back to bed at 6:30 and we started our outdoor hunt. Forgive the quality of the pictures. It was still pretty dark!

And all the festivities were over by 7. *yawn*

But then we got to play with some new stuff! The sidewalk chalk....

...and the bubble gun!

Chloe and I sat on the swing and watched Chase chase bubbles all over the yard. It was very entertaining!

Hoppy Easter!

(More photos are in our Photo Album if you're interested!)

Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-23T15:12:00.003-05:00

Today Brian joined us for the city Easter egg hunt. It was sheer madness:

By the time we got in the gate most of the eggs were gone, so Chase ran around finding egg halves that other kids left behind. He loved every minute of it, though:

It was a great excuse to get Chloe dressed up, too. I have had this dress since Chloe was born, practically (she got it as a gift from my dear friend Katie) and I just couldn't WAIT until she fit into it and I had a good reason to dress her up (and of course I had to buy shoes to match)!

I sat her down in the grass while Brian and Chase searched for egg halves and these pictures pretty much sum up what she thought about THAT!

Afterward Brian secretly filled some of the eggs with some Skittles he bought at the concession stand since he didn't get any eggs with stuff in them!

Chase was really excited to have Daddy there. We all had a nice time together.

When we got home I had to take some more photos of Chloe in her dress and shoes with her little pigtails in. Having a girl to dress up is so much fun!

The Easter Bunny comes tonight!!

All the pictures I took today are in our Photo Album if you're interested.

Easter Eggs!

2011-04-21T21:18:00.002-05:00

We made our Easter eggs this week. It was a 2-night process. We colored them last night:

And then tonight we decorated them:

They don't hold a candle to the amazing dinosaur eggs he made with his dad...

...but he loved them all the same!

(I still can't believe Brian had the patience to do that!!)

Play Ball!

2011-04-07T22:03:00.004-05:00

Now that Chloe is more mobile she and Chase are really starting to play together more. It is too cute to watch them. Here's a little clip! Enjoy!

Chloe: 9 Months

2011-03-31T23:19:00.000-05:00

My baby is 9 months old! I can't believe it. Here is her photo with the "growth chart bear!"

As you can tell, she is not happy. Are you ready for the reason?

She is scared of the bear.

Ha ha! She did the same thing last month and I thought maybe it was just that she was tired, but sure enough, she did it again! I plopped her down, she looked behind her shoulder at the bear's face.... Complete meltdown. This is what immediately followed:

As she gets more mobile I have a feeling it's going to become much more difficult to get a good growth chart picture of her with the "scary bear!"

Anyway, she had her 9 month checkup this week. She is 22.6lbs (90th percentile) and 18.5" long (75th percentile). My little girl is a big girl!

Message from Chase

2011-03-27T10:05:00.002-05:00

Chase wanted to type, so here he is!

mom098f333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333daddiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

(Can you pick out the 2 words he typed?)

Chase in the Hat

2011-03-26T18:59:00.000-05:00

That sounds funny if you read it fast... like "Chasin' the hat." ANYWAY....

On the Saturdays I have the kids I have been taking them to Barnes and Noble for their weekly "Story Time." They read the kids a story and then do a craft that relates to the story. This week, to celebrate NEA's Read Across America project, they read "The Cat in the Hat," and then the kids got to make hats. Well, it happened to be a very irritatingly putsy project, so the parents ended up making the hats while the kids sat back and enjoyed the show with their cookies and juice (nice, huh?). Chase loves the hat, though, so I guess trying to glue and cut and tape while wrestling with a now-mobile 9-month-old (who wants to get her hands on EVERYTHING) was worth it!

On the Move!

2011-03-24T20:54:00.000-05:00

Time to baby proof!!

She started crawling at her daddy's house this weekend. And then when I was laying on the floor with her today she grabbed onto my hip and hoisted herself up onto her feet! The girl loves standing up, so I shouldn't be surprised that would be her next move so soon! Anyway, she is so proud of herself. She loves that she can get around now, but now Chase and I have to protect his toys from her eager grasp! When she picks up speed I am going to get lots of exercise!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T18:49:00.012-05:00

The kids were all decked out in their greens for St. Patrick's Day.

Chase was resistant to the photo shoot request, but he ended up having lots of fun with his little sister! Here are some of my favorite candids of them playing:

Hope everyone had a great St. Patty's Day!

Chase & Chloe Play

2011-03-15T21:17:00.004-05:00

Here's a little video of Chloe playing, and then of course big brother had to jump in and entertain her. Enjoy!

Chloe: 8 Months

2011-03-01T19:55:00.009-06:00

Here is Chloe's 8 month photo with the "growth chart bear!" She was not in the best of moods for photo taking tonight.

Click here to compare it to last month's photo!

Pippi

2011-02-19T20:03:00.001-06:00

So today I looked at my daughter and started calling her Pippi, because her hairdo is frighteningly similar to the Pippi Longstocking look:

She's going to curse those flip-ups forever (like I curse mine). Anyway, as I looked at her I thought, "I wonder...."

Are you ready for this? CUTE ATTACK!

Is she a doll or what?!? They didn't last long before she yanked them out, but they were cute while they lasted! Chase kept wanting me to put them back in because he liked them, too.

Having a girl is going to be fun!

P.S. This is my second post of the day. Check out the previous post if you haven't already!

Conversations with a 4-Year-Old: Big Brother Job

2011-02-19T15:16:00.001-06:00

Chase picks up after Chloe a lot. When she drops something, he rushes to get it. He's such a helpful big brother! Anyway, today Chloe was drinking her bottle in her high chair while Chase played a video game. She dropped the bottle and it crashed to the floor. Without a beat, or even a look away from his game, Chase called out:

"Mommy, will you get that, please?"

The tables were turned. The Big Brother was asking the Mommy to help him out. Hilarious.

Ice Day

2011-02-09T21:21:00.001-06:00

Well, we had another winter blast last night and as a result school was canceled again today. It's funny. When I was IN school I prayed for snow days. And now, while I sometimes lay in bed in the mornings and think, "It would be nice...," there's a bigger part of me that knows I'm going to have to make that snow day up, and I would rather have a planned day off for a long weekend, etc., than a random day off with weather that's no fun to go out in. Ugh, it's no fun growing up sometimes. ANYWAY....

The kids and I made it a fun day inside. We built a fort with blankets. Well, we built SEVERAL forts, because Chase found it fun to tear them down and rebuild them over and over and over and over... and over and over (and over) again.

He loved it:

Chloe had fun inside the fort, too:

A little later Chase decided he wanted to do a 100-piece puzzle. I thought for sure it wouldn't last long, but he and I worked on it straight through (no breaks) until it was done. He kept saying, "Whoah, Mom.... This is tough!" It was quite cute.

Chloe and I got some fun floor play time in, too. In this picture you can see her bottom two teeth (click on the photo for a larger view):

And then I just kept snapping pictures because she was being so cute!

Stay warm!

Animals Rock!

2011-02-06T21:00:00.002-06:00

My friend Erin and her son Nathan invited us to see the "Singing Zoologist" with them this weekend. The kids had SO much fun! Here is a little video of them jamming to "Animals Rock!" NOTE: This is not the same video I posted on Facebook earlier.

My favorite part of this video is Chloe constantly trying to grab the camera!

Snow Day!

2011-02-04T20:40:00.002-06:00

We had a heck of a morning. Last night when I went to bed I turned my alarm off because I was sure the next morning (today) was Saturday. The kids started stirring around 6:15 and I cursed them for getting up so early on a Saturday. Chase came in saying he was hungry and I sent him to get poptarts so I could sleep longer. Then Chloe got up around 6:45 and I thought, "Ugh, fine. I guess I'll get up." On my way to go get her it hit me that it was Friday!

I usually leave my house before 7am to get to work on time.

I FREAKED. I started barking orders. "Chase, clothes! Teeth! Shoes! Now!" I got Chloe dressed and shoved a bottle in her mouth while I attempted to wet down the parts of my hair that were sticking straight up and do something with my face. At 7:15 we were ready to go (I know, I am impressed with myself, too). As I was buckling Chloe up in her car seat inside, I caught a glimpse of something strange out the front window.

Snow.

Crap, I wore heels. No time! Chase was PSYCHED. I got them all in the car and started out of the driveway when I realized my neighbor's car was in the driveway... and she's a teacher. Hmmmmm....

I turned the radio on and they mentioned there were a lot of school closings but didn't list them all, and my district really doesn't like to close unless it's absolutely necessary so I still wasn't convinced it was us. So I drove to daycare just in case. I didn't get very far out of my neighborhood before it became clear that NO ONE was out. You couldn't see the lanes in the road through the snow, and there were hardly any cars around. I drove to daycare and it was dark. So I got on my phone in the parking lot to check our website and saw that school was closed.

At this point Chase was beside himself with excitement and kept talking about playing in the snow, building snowmen, etc. But I had no gloves, so since we were out already we went to Wal-Mart. Wa-Mart had no gloves. The best I could get were workman gloves. Better than nothing!

Note to self: In the future, stock up on cold weather essentials from up north. It's been so unseasonally cold with this crazy winter storm sweeping across the nation that the other day my front door lock froze. I had no idea how I was going to get in my house, after shopping ALL OVER TOWN for de-icer and finding nothing. Thank goodness for a hot cup of water from McDonald's and a spray bottle (except that it just re-froze afterwards). Anyway, I digress.

We invited Daddy over to play in the snow. There wasn't enough to build a snowman and it was too powdery for snowballs, so we all just threw it around for as long as we could stand the cold.

How DID I ever live up north? I'm such a wuss about the cold now.

Anyway, Chase had a lot of fun playing with the snow on the slide. I only managed to get a couple of pics before my camera battery died. Enjoy!

Chloe: 7 Months (and some big brother photos, too!)

2011-01-30T20:05:00.022-06:00

Chloe is 7 months old! Here is her monthly picture with the "growth chart bear!" She has two teeth now (on the bottom) and loves every kind of baby food I have given her. She is still happy as ever, though she has realized she can get her way by crying (oh, why do they have to figure that out?)! She can get up on her knees and rock back and forth, though she pretty much just works her way backwards, which really frustrates her. She would rather be standing all the time.

Click here to compare it to her 6 month photo!

Chase had to jump in and have his picture taken with the bear, too....

Click here for a photo of him the last time he posed with the bear! (It's been awhile!)

This turned into an impromptu photo shoot with the two of them:

Chase LOVES to make Chloe laugh (no one can make her laugh like he can). Here he is with a tickle attempt:

And I love the look on Chloe's face in the next one. She's like, "I'm keeping my eye on you, big brother" (click on it for a bigger view):

They are too cute (if I do say so myself)!!

Pajama Day!

2011-01-22T12:52:00.021-06:00

I have the kids this weekend and we are just chillin' out in our PJ's today. Well, once again Chloe is the only one dressed. Ha ha! Anyway, it is niiiiiiice...! I got this little video clip of Chase playing with Chloe and it cracked me up because my OCD son just couldn't take it that Chloe kept messing up his perfect cup stacking job! Check it out:

Then Chase had the brilliant idea of sitting in Chloe's car seat. "I promise it will be funny, Mommy!" His exact words.

Happy Saturday!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-12T22:10:00.003-06:00

The kids and I went to Michigan the week after Christmas to see my parents:

I know, I know, I'm a little late in posting. But to make up for it, I'm posting lots of pics! Ready?

First of all, I had to introduce (or in Chase's case, reintroduce) COLD WEATHER to the kids! Chloe was all decked out, fuzzy and adorable:

Chase REALLY wanted to play in the snow... until we got in it. We didn't last very long after this picture was taken:

We did buy him some better mittens and a coat while we were there, and his Uncle Kory was nice enough to loan him a pair of his kids' snow pants, so the next time we went out we were ready!

We took our "ready" selves sledding with Uncle Kory, Aunt Kiersten and the cousins. It was Chase's first time sledding and he LOVED it. I even got to go (it had been a LONG TIME)!

One day we woke up to find the snow was beginning to melt, which Chase was REALLY upset about. I literally found him in the living room, staring out the window. When he turned to look at me he had tears in his eyes and he said, "Mommy, I don't want the snow to go away!" It absolutely broke my heart. So we suited up right then and there and headed out to make a snowman:

Well, we couldn't stop there. We had to make another one for the birds:

(Do you like the bird feeder hat Grandma made?)

And then we made another one for... well, for Chase. This one he decorated with food coloring (Grandma's great idea)!

Here's a closeup of his snow-alien masterpiece:

We finally convinced him he needed to make a snow angel. OK, we didn't really convince him. We pretty much forced him. Not that you can tell or anything:

(Doesn't he look comfortable?)

Where was Chloe all this time? In the warm house looking cute:

While we were there I was able to catch up with a couple "old" (I hate saying that) friends. Holly came over with her two kids one night. I love this photo my mom tried to take of all of us. Only one out of the four kids decided to cooperate (and that one was not mine)!

I also got to have dinner with my friend Krista and her family at her house, but of course I didn't think to take a picture (that's what my mom is for, and she wasn't there)!

We were also able to visit family friends and my step-family, who I hadn't seen in YEARS (scary, huh?)! Chase got to reconnect with his cousins, and Chloe got to meet everyone. This picture of all of the kids cracks me up. It looks like Chase is trying to kill his little sister.

Chase: Hold still, Chloe. It will only hurt for a second.
Chloe: Uhhhh... Chase? I'm not so sure about this....
Chase: Oh, it'll be fine. Heh heh heh....

(Click on the photo for a larger view....)

Hmmmmmm.... Foreshadowing, perhaps?

Happy New Year!

Chloe: 6 Months

2011-01-02T20:20:00.001-06:00

It is hard to believe Chloe is 6 months old already! Here is her monthly photo with the "growth chart bear!"

Click here to compare it to her 5 month photo!

The biggest change I see in the photos is that she can sit completely unsupported now. My baby is growing up!

At her 6 month doctor's appointment she measured 26.5" long (67th percentile) and is 18 lbs (79th percentile). The girl is the most adorable chunk you have ever seen (in my biased opinion)!

New Year's Eve Wish from Chase

2010-12-31T10:43:00.000-06:00

Chase would like to write a New Years wish to you all. He has become quite computer savvy:

chasetyhhhhhhgyhhgyygtggvghhghfhhytuhggfttyttttggyyyttgggfggfcgggvgvvvvcvgnn bb b bvffgfgfg bbbbbbbbhhhhhhhhgggggggggggggggmuhhgbhgjbnjhgvggfdcfgfvggrrfrrtffgftfftygtfrft5rftrftftyffyyyyryf
uhhhggfgfggffgffgdfdfgfgfdfgfgvghfgvvgfcgvgvcccvgvfgcvgxccgccgvvgfftfyggffvgffyghhgffgvhgggfhyg
1234567890wweertyuujjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

chvhbnbbhbbbjhhbjhhbhbbhbbgggggvgvvghbhbbb bbbvbbjhbhhbjbhjbnjhbjbnhbjbjuhhyhyyyyhuhyhhhhyhghuyhhyhyyyyyyyhyhgyhyuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhbbbbbn mn mn nmnjknnmnjjnmjjkjijinjkjkbnhjuhujkjhjhjkjhjhjhhhjhjhjkhjhjhjjhjjhjhjhkhhhhjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
vghvgvggghvghggggggvgvghgfhhvgghvggbhgbhvgbhbhbbnbbbnnbnbnbnbmbbbbnbbbnbnnbnbnbnnbbnb
vgvghvghgvghvghnbbbghbgghbjhbjbhjbjhhbnbhbhjbbhbhbbhhbhjbhbhhbhbhjbhhhbhhbhbhhhhhhhbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

nknknjnjnkjjjknmjknjknjikijijijiujijuijiujijjiuuuuijkjjiujiukjjiuijjkjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj

lijjnkjjkjmjmijkkjknjikjkkjmnkjiuju9iikjhjiuhuihuihuhjhjhhjhhjiuhnhnhjhjhhjghjhjhhjhhhjhjkkjjkjhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhkhjhhjkhhjhjjjkjjkkjjjkjmmkmk
hjhbhjnhbhjbhjbjhbhjb hhhjbhbhhhhhhhhhhhhhbbhnbhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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nbjhbhbhjbjhbjhbbjnhbjbjbhbbjbhbhhhhhggbhhggbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
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nnlknnjknnjjjhnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnmnnnnnnnnnnnnnmnnnnnnnnnnnn
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chase

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-30T09:42:00.000-06:00

We had a very nice Christmas morning. Here are a few highlights. Sorry the pictures aren't better. Because it was DARK outside (ha ha), I had no natural light to work with!

Chase got the very specific space ship he wanted from Santa (though he did ask where the wheels were and we had to explain Santa isn't perfect!):

He also got a bike from Daddy and me...

...which he had to ride around the house after we were done opening presents:

Chloe had a good Christmas, too:

Chase had to demonstrate for her how her toys worked. This gift is from Chase, which I think he picked because HE likes it so much:

We hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! Have a wonderful New Year!

Santa is Coming!

2010-12-24T16:48:00.002-06:00

Chase wrote his first letter to Santa a couple weeks ago, with my help (I wrote exactly what he told me to write):

Now, let's be clear about the spaceship he wants. He wants a space ship "that's big, but not heavy, has wheels and a square button that lights up and makes noises and flies." He was very specific. I hope Santa got him exactly what he wanted!

He also requested that Santa get Chloe a teddy bear. How sweet is that?

Have a very Merry Christmas, everyone!

Cookies for Santa

2010-12-23T21:34:00.000-06:00

Today Chase and I made cookies for Santa. Mom, you will be so proud of me.... I did not use the pre-made Pillsbury cookie dough this time!

I got a mix.

OK, OK, I know it is not the same as your homemade cookies, but I did have to mix in an egg, butter and a tablespoon of flour, and then I had to stir it. So it was closer to the "real deal" than last time!

And I even took frosting a step further this time. I still used a can (like last time - part 2)...

...but I added food coloring to spice things up a bit! That also required stirring. Phew! What a workout!

Anyway, here are our masterpieces:

He picked out two for Santa and I guess he and I will be picking at the rest of them over the next day or so. Great. And I just got back into my pre-pregnancy pants!

Oh, the DRAMA of Shots!

2010-12-22T21:42:00.002-06:00

Chase had his 4-year checkup at the doctor's yesterday. We talked to him about it before the appointment, to prep him for the four shots he was going to have. Chase did great with the prep and he loved the doctor and was having a great time in the doctor's office. They came in to give him the shots and he was very cool about it.

"Is it time for my shots? OK!"

He laid down and I asked if I could hold his hand (translation: hold his hands down) and he said OK. After the first shot his expression changed and he said in a very meek voice, "Mommy, I don't want to do that again." From that point he went downhill pretty quickly, but it was over with fast and we made a big deal of it.

"You're all done! Good job! What a big boy! Let's get some ice cream! Woo hoo!"

He would not stop crying. The aftermath was so much worse than the actual shots. You would have thought the boy was scarred for life. We finally got him to calm down and start walking out. Omigod....

The boy walked like a penguin, creeping forward a whopping two inches with each step. He would not move his legs. He whimpered the whole time and then occasionally he would stop and cry again, saying "I don't want any more shots!" to which we replied (over and over again), "Chase, you're done! There are no more shots!" We would creep another foot and he would burst into tears again. "The band aids are hurting me!" It was drama, drama, drama.

So we checked out and started the very slow, treacherous walk to the car. When we got there and opened the door for him he just stood there and stared. He was trying to find a way to climb into the car without bending his knees, and he burst into tears again, "I can't get in the car!" I helped him and he cried harder, "Mommy! Don't touch me!"

We got to the ice cream shop and the poor kid couldn't figure out how to get out. He finally did, then penguin waddled to the curb and studied it, once again trying to figure out how to step up without bending his knees. He attempted it. He failed. Tears followed. Brian tried to hold him up in the ice cream store so he could see all the toppings. Wailing followed. "Daddy, don't touch me!" He then had to climb into the chair all by himself (because every time we touched him, we hurt him, apparently)... once again without bending his knees. *sigh*

I managed to convince him as he penguin waddled through Wal-Mart afterwards that the awesome thing about ice cream is that it's magic, and as it goes through your body it finds the shot spots and fixes them so you can go super fast again (That's kind of his thing... "I can go super fast! Watch!") and lo and behold... the ice cream found the spots and the kid was soon running through Wal-Mart like a madman.

I always knew ice cream was magic.

Chase had many dramatic lines throughout the day that were worthy of Academy Awards, but my favorite one was this: We were playing on the floor later that night and he had to get up to get something. He looked at me before he moved, very concerned and serious, heaved a great sigh and said, "Mommy, I hope I can stand up."

Brian almost fell over. I said back, very seriously of course, "Me too, Chase. Good luck."

Yes, he gets his dramatics from me.

Superhero Birthday "Party"

2010-12-22T21:15:00.002-06:00

For Chase's birthday this year we had a small family party (just us), and then debated whether or not to throw a big "friends" party. Chase has one good friend outside of his daycare friends, and they were going to celebrate his birthday at daycare already. So the thought was, "Do we pay a ton of money to entertain daycare kids and parents we don't even know?" The answer we came up with: No. We invited that one other friend (Nathan) over to play and they had a mini birthday play date, which Chase loved.

Nathan got Chase a super cool superhero dress-up set. It came with three superhero costumes: Spiderman, Iron Man and Wolverine. They had tons of fun playing superheros together! Here is Chase as Wolverine:

And here he is as "Iron Wolf," the newest superhero, bred from an interesting relationship between Iron Man and Wolverine, I guess:

They found some swords and had a ball battling each other:

And then they joined forces and attacked "Daddy Man:"

In the end I'm glad we handled his party the way we did. He had a lot of fun, and it was a lot less stress for us (always a bonus)!

Conversations with a 4-Year-Old: My Little Comedian

2010-12-19T21:34:00.001-06:00

I have taught Chase a couple of knock-knock jokes recently, which I find hilarious. Check out the video on the previous post to hear one, if you haven't already.

So last night when I put Chase to bed he said to me, "Hey, Mommy! What did the taco say to the burrito?"

I got so excited. He was telling a joke! One I didn't teach him! Is this going to be his new thing? Do I have a future comedian on my hands? I couldn't wait to hear the punchline.

"I don't know, Chase. What did the taco say to the burrito?" I asked, excitedly.

His eyes lit up and he said, "a light!" And then he burst into hysterical laughter.

*crickets*

Yeah.... I don't get it.

Today he tried the same joke but the punchline was "a door." Still not working for him. But at least he's trying, right? Ha ha!

Happy 4th Birthday, Chase!

2010-12-16T21:13:00.003-06:00

Mmmmm.... Carrots!

2010-12-11T20:34:00.000-06:00

Here's a little video of Chloe's first experience with baby food!

Chloe: 5 Months

2010-12-05T14:53:00.002-06:00

This post is almost a week late.... Sorry! Here is Chloe's 5 month photo with her "growth chart bear!"

Click here to compare it to her 4 month photo!

I seriously cannot get over how good she is. She is always happy and content. It blows my mind!

Today she had her first "hair cut." I put that in quotes because I did it myself. She had the craziest, out of control mullet going on in the back and I just had to cut it off. I didn't touch anything except her hairline along her neck, and this is what I got:

Told you it was long! I am so happy to have all that off her neck!

School Pictures

2010-12-04T08:48:00.001-06:00

We're usually not big into school pictures, but this time both kids' photos turned out great! Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-27T14:51:00.001-06:00

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Brian's sister, Jen and our nephew, Ryan came to visit for the holiday. It was so nice to see them again. Chase was completely infatuated with Ryan, to the point we didn't even recognize our son, he was so wound up and hyper! They had fun playing the Wii together:

We went to the Army museum on Fort Hood to see tanks, helicopters and planes. Ryan was totally into it, and Chase had fun running around:

While we were there we also got some "flying lessons!" Check it out:

Ryan and Chase also played some one-on-one basketball in their PJ's, which was totally fun. At first Chase did not like the fact that Ryan kept "taking his ball," but once I explained the basic principles of the game (image me, explaining basketball... ha!), he got into it:

While they were here we also got some obligitory family photos:

More photos are in our Photo Album if you're interested! Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! Only 28 days til Christmas!

Chloe Development Update

2010-11-11T16:24:00.001-06:00

Chloe has grown so much. She rolled over once a couple weeks ago from her back to her stomach, and then all of a sudden today she's constantly flipping from her stomach to her back. She's a pro, apparently! I put her on her tummy this morning and she rolled over about 5 times.

She is also working to move toward toys, scooting herself on her belly to try to reach them. It's adorable to watch that back leg try to push her towards the things she wants!

I cannot believe how strong her legs are. Maybe I just don't remember Chase's strength at this age, but she LOVES to stand up, and there are times I feel like I might just be able to let go (of course I never would)! Today she was standing up watching Chase play with a car ramp that's about as high as her armpits, and she put her hands on it and was just standing there, leaning on it for support. I barely touched her, framed behind her for balance.

Chloe is such a happy, easygoing baby. She LOVES Chase. She watches him and smiles at him constantly. He has been getting into it a little, too. He has been going through a jealous phase, but he really seems to enjoy entertaining her, when you bring his attention to the fact she's staring at him.

I'm at home with both of them today because we are off for Veteran's Day. It is so nice just to hang out in our PJ's and play on the floor together. They are amazing!

Chloe's 4 Month Stats

2010-11-02T09:58:00.002-05:00

Chloe had her 4 month doctor's appointment today and here are her stats!

Height: 24" (26th percentile)
Weight: 15lb 2oz (68th percentile)

Trick-or-Treat!

2010-10-31T21:49:00.004-05:00

Happy Halloween! We learned the hard way our first year down in Texas that if you carve pumpkins too early you will have to throw them away before Halloween. They just rot in the heat within a couple of days. So now our tradition down here is to carve them the day before Halloween! That's what we did Saturday.

Chloe watched:

And now for the finished products! Here are mine and Chloe's (Chase decorated hers with stickers; She's on the bottom):

And here are Daddy's and Chase's:

Bet you can't tell whose is whose! Ha ha! Chase told me what he wanted and I drew and carved it for him.

When I was outside taking pictures of the pumpkins Chase decided he wanted to take pictures of them, too. Mom and Dad, this is for you!

Chase wanted to be a pumpkin for Halloween this year. I have decided as a mom I should make the kids' Halloween costumes every year. I don't know why I feel like it's my duty as a mom to be domestic only at certain times of the year, but I do. Last year I made his ghost costume, which I was so proud of. This year I made his costume again. Now, unlike last year when I found easy instructions for his costume online, this year I had to make it up on my own. I must say I am pretty pleased with myself. My son won best costume in his class at daycare! GO, MOM! All I used was a sweatshirt, some felt, scissors, elastic and sewing glue:

Chloe was the most beautiful spider you ever did see!

Here's the rest of her:

And here are the kids with Daddy:

We have had a lot of Halloween fun this weekend. Last night we were on our way to a Halloween party when we noticed a bunch of kids in costume running around our neighborhood. We had just assumed trick-or-treating was on Halloween but I guess we were wrong! We ended up doing a little impromptu trick-or-treating before the party last night, and then tonight we met up with Chase's friend Nathan (and my friend, his mom!) in a neighboring town to trick-or-treat again. They were ADORABLE running from house to house shouting, "Happy Halloween!"

I hope everyone had a fun, safe Halloween! We sure did! More photos are in our Photo Album if you're interested!

Chloe: 4 Months

2010-10-30T13:35:00.005-05:00

I can't believe Chloe is 4 months already! Here she is with her "growth chart bear!"

Click here to compare it to her 3 month photo!

She has really grown in the last month developmentally. She is now grabbing at toys and putting them into her mouth. She loves it!

She is such a happy baby and we had a lot of fun with her photo shoot today. All the photos we took are in our Photo Album if you're interested! Lots of smiles!

Girlz Weekend in Corpus Christi

2010-10-25T14:46:00.003-05:00

I spent the weekend (I'm cheating again - check the date) with my amazing friends Katie and Janet in Corpus Christi. Janet was down in Texas for a conference so we all met in Corpus and had an awesome time catching up! It is always amazing to me that when you get together with "old" (except that we will never get old!) friends you can pick up right where you left off the last time you got together. I love you, girls!!

State Fair

2010-10-11T14:31:00.002-05:00

We went to Dallas "this weekend" (I'm cheating - check out the date) to see Brian's sister, Jen, who was in town for a Sugarland concert. It was great to see Jen again! We hung out at our hotel Saturday night and Chase and Jen had a blast running around the hotel and crashing the 50-year high school reunion going on downstairs. He was really upset when Jen had to go back to her own hotel that night. But we continued to be entertained by the VERY loud Elvis impersonator until 11pm. Fun times (especially with a baby trying to sleep).

It just so happens that the State Fair was also in Dallas so we all did that together Sunday. We had a decent time but Chase was not really on his best behavior so it became a bit stressful. He was low on sleep and it showed! But it was great to spend some time with Jen nonetheless!

Chloe: 3 Months

2010-10-02T13:47:00.001-05:00

Chloe is 3 months old! Here she is with the "growth chart bear!"

Click here to compare it to her 2 month photo!

I got a great video of her laughing at her daddy today. It is guaranteed to make you smile. Enjoy!

Lazy Sunday

2010-09-26T16:45:00.001-05:00

Today we had a "hang around the house in your PJ's" kind of day. Chloe was the only one not in her jammies again! It was a beautiful day and we were able to turn off the A/C and open our windows to get some fresh air.

We pulled out the Bumbo chair for Chloe today and she really likes it! She was fixated on the football game and I had flashbacks.

We went outside this morning for a bit and found the biggest, scariest looking spider I think I have ever seen, hanging right beside our back porch:

We looked it up and it isn't deadly, thank goodness, and it also eats bees. We have been having big wasp issues up until recently (Hmmmm...) so we're letting him stay.

Chase's Art Project

2010-09-22T18:21:00.003-05:00

Chase was especially proud of the art project he made at daycare today. I asked him if he wanted me to put a picture of it on the computer for everyone to see and he said, "No, let's take a video." So here it is!

Cultural Arts Festival

2010-09-20T21:42:00.002-05:00

This Sunday we went to Waco's Cultural Arts Festival. We went last year and it was a really good time with lots of projects for Chase to do. This year he painted a rock...

...and went fishing:

He had to trade the fish in for a sticker and he was not happy about the whole "catch and release" concept, but we managed. Anyway, he also got to play with blocks:

I carried Chloe around in the Baby Bjorn (love that thing!), but it was HOT (90 degrees). I spent the day hopping from shady spot to shady spot to keep her out of the sun. We took a break from it all to watch Chase play with blocks:

Afterwards Super Dad decided he would take over:

He felt like he had officially lost his man card, but I thought he looked pretty cute!

More photos coming soon to our Photo Album if you're interested!

Conversations with a 3-Year-Old: Songwriter in the Making

2010-09-19T18:23:00.000-05:00

Chase sang a very entertaining song in the car today:

I like the beans,
I like the beans,
I like the beans,
I like the beans!
(Repeat about a million times. Then...)

I like the beads,
I like the beads,
I like the beads,
I like the beads!
(Repeat about a million times. Then...)

I like the seeds,
I like the seeds,
I like the seeds,
I like the seeds!
(Repeat about a million times. Now time for the chorus!)

Did you ever see a fish kissing a pool
down by the bay?

I like the seeds,
I like the seeds...
(You get the idea... Now another variation of the chorus!)

Did you ever see a fish poking a basketball
down by the bay?

I really think he has a future in this. We're gonna be rich!

Bouncer Fun

2010-09-11T15:39:00.004-05:00

Chloe has figured out that if she kicks her feet she can make her bouncer toys move. The bouncer is now a fun place for her to be! Here's a little snippet of her having some fun. This is a pretty tame version of her kicks, but her smiles are priceless!

First Tooth?!?

2010-09-09T21:31:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I noticed Chloe was drooling a lot, and she hadn't been sleeping or eating as well as she normally does. So Monday I decided to stick my finger in her mouth on a whim, and lo and behold... she has part of a tooth poking out in there! It's in a bizarre place (poking out of the side of her gum, on the bottom right side of her mouth vs. the front), so I'm keeping my eye on it. I really hope she doesn't inherit my brace face! Ha ha! Anyway, isn't that crazy? A tooth at 2 months?!? We'll keep you posted!

Conversations with a 3-Year-Old: Pretty in Pink

2010-09-08T19:28:00.000-05:00

I realized the other day that Chloe has some adorable dresses hanging in her closet that she hasn't worn. On a day-to-day basis we stick with the more practical onesies, but she is getting bigger every day and it won't be long before she can't fit into those 0-3 month sized dresses in the closet! So yesterday I decided to put her in one and she looked totally adorable.

Chase wandered into her room and I said, "Chase, look at Chloe's dress!" He ran over and his eyes got really wide as he said, in awe:

"Mommy, she looks like a princess!"

It was just about the sweetest thing I have ever heard him say and my eyes totally welled up with tears. What a sweet big brother he is!

BFF Visit

2010-09-07T19:56:00.000-05:00

This weekend my amazing friend Nicole came down to Texas to visit. She got to meet Chloe and see how much Chase has grown. She helped out with Chloe and one night even stayed up with her all night long (what a saint)! Of course while she was here we had to re-live the good ol' days and do some damage at DSW:

I tried to convince her to buy this hat (I mean, how adorable is she in this hat?!?) but I was unsuccessful:

Other than that we ate out a few times, saw a movie ("The Switch") and hung out in our PJ's. Good times! We laughed a ton and it was SO hard to drop her off at the airport today. My eyes are tearing up right now just thinking about it. *insert eye fanning here* I miss you, Nicole! I honestly don't know what I would do without you in my life.... *HUG*

Chloe: 2 Months

2010-08-31T20:16:00.000-05:00

Chloe is 2 months old! Here is her monthly "growth chart" photo:

Click here to compare it to her 1 month photo!

She had a doctor's appointment this morning and she is now 22" long (25th percentile) and 11 lb 11 oz (75th percentile). The pediatrician said everything looks great! She had to have three shots and luckily Brian took her so I didn't have to witness it... though I was the one who took the band-aids off this evening and I don't think she'll ever forgive me for that!

More photos of her 2nd month are in our Photo Album if you're interested.

Conversations with a 3-Year-Old: Don't Beat Me!

2010-08-28T14:02:00.002-05:00

Chase has recently become very competitive (that's ALL Brian). He has to beat you at everything. If you're walking up the stairs with him he has to make it to the top first. If you're walking down the stairs he has to make it to the bottom first. If he's behind he will start crying, "Don't beat me!"

That phrase is funny in itself, but the other day I decided the boy needed to learn he can't win all the time, so I beat him. He did not like it... and cried. A lot. *sigh*

Apparently the next morning he turned to Brian and said:

"Daddy, Mommy makes me cry when she beats me."

Fingers crossed he doesn't start spreading that around daycare! We expect a call from the authorities any day now.

P.S. This is my second post of the day. Check out the previous post for some cute pics, if you haven't seen them already!

Lazy Saturday

2010-08-28T13:50:00.000-05:00

While Brian played tennis this morning, I got to hang out with the kids at home. We had tons of fun playing. Chloe gave me lots of good smiles!

She is so fascinated by Chase. She stares and smiles at him constantly! He doesn't really seem to notice or care at this point, but I think it's totally adorable.

I asked Chase to give Chloe a kiss during my little photo shoot and Chloe stuck her tongue out at just the right time:

Ha ha! We had fun just hangin' out. Chloe was the only one NOT in PJ's!

More photos are in our Photo Album if you're interested!

End-of-Summer Fun

2010-08-23T21:10:00.002-05:00

Well, today was my first day back at work with students. We celebrated our last summer weekend indoors, since it was 104 degrees outside! We went to the children's museum at Baylor University. They had a special Lego exhibit, which was cool. Chase had a fun time making a big Lego tower with Daddy.

Here is a fun photo of him trying to hear the ocean in a giant shell:

This was the extent of Chloe's fun:

More photos coming soon to our Photo Album!

Happy Back to School (I start my Texas A&M class next week myself)!

One-Armed Baby

2010-08-23T20:11:00.001-05:00

Brian and I are big fans of swaddling. It is the only way Chase would sleep and Chloe loves it, too. But with Chase we ended up swaddling him too long and had to cut him off cold turkey. We didn't want to have to do that with Chloe so we did a little research and found an article that suggested weaning her off of it by leaving one arm out for a couple weeks, then two, then loosening the wrapping around the body. So we started the weaning process this weekend and... I'm sorry, but it's funny:

She's doing great so far!

Conversations With a 3-Year-Old: Big Boy

2010-08-22T17:55:00.001-05:00

Location: IHOP bathroom

Chase: Is this a big toilet?
Daddy: Yes.
Chase: Is this a daddy toilet?
Daddy: Yes, but you can use it because you're a big boy.
Chase: Yeah, because I have a big penis.

And so it begins. *sigh*

Goofy Grins!

2010-08-20T19:48:00.000-05:00

We have a smiler! Here she is in action:

And here are a couple more cute baby faces for you:

The girl really knows how to sport a double chin! Ha ha!

Back to Work!

2010-08-14T13:23:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I went back to work, which meant it was Chloe's first day at daycare. I took it upon myself to get us all ready to go and out the door myself so Brian could get some sleep (he was up late with Chloe the night before). I was a little nervous about getting two kids up and around by myself, but Chase did great getting ready. I created a little "Getting Ready" sticker chart for him and we had been practicing all week, earning stickers for tackling his morning tasks all by himself (Thanks for the idea, Barb!):

Get dressed
Eat breakfast
Brush teeth
Get reward!

He did awesome. It was tough getting him up early (he is SO crabby when he wakes up!), but once we got to Step 2, he did great. He ate breakfast while I finished putting my makeup on, and brushed his teeth when I got Chloe dressed. Chase requested she wear butterflies (he loves her butterfly outfits), but they were all dirty so he settled for turtles.

In the car on the way to daycare Chloe started crying and Chase said, "It's OK, Baby. Daycare is fun!" Then I asked him if he thought she would like daycare and he said, "No, because she cries all the time." Ha!

I was doing very well emotionally until we walked into the infant room and Chase gasped and said, "Mommy, LOOK! There are butterflies on the wall! I think Chloe will like it here!" That's when the waterworks started. I did a decent job keeping my composure but I definitely got teary-eyed.

Chloe did great, of course. She had no idea what was going on. When I left her she was happily swinging, and when I picked her up she was happily swinging. It was like, "What's the big deal, Mom?"

I did feel good to be back in the world of the living. I did my hair and makeup, put some fabulous heels on (oh, how I have missed them)! Ahhhh.... Civilization!

Photos, Anyone?

2010-08-13T21:56:00.001-05:00

If anyone wants any copies of any of the photos in our Photo Album, just let me know which ones and I'll order them for you (free). I have so many pre-paid credits I don't know what to do with them, and if I don't order anything by September 12th they're going to delete my account!

If you need the album's room code, let me know!

Grandma & Grandpa W's Visit

2010-08-12T11:31:00.003-05:00

Brian's parents just left Texas after being here for a week. It was so nice to see them again. They got to meet Chloe...

...and play with her crazy big brother (I think he wore them out)!

They were also nice enough to babysit one night while they were here so Brian and I could go on a much needed date! We saw Inception, which was great!

Remember when I talked about Chase's obsession with basketball?

Well, Grandma and Grandpa surprised him with a basketball hoop (which Brian is also excited about)! Getting it put together was an ordeal. The instructions cracked me up:

It actually took ONE capable adult (me) and 2 not-so-capable ones. Ha ha! Just kidding. It took 3 capable adults to get this job done (me, Brian, Grandpa). We actually tackled a different hoop first, and ended up returning it for another one because we couldn't get past Step 2 (by no fault of our own)! The second one we put together yesterday while Grandma babysat. It was SO MISERABLY HOT. We were already drenched in sweat when the downpour started... so we didn't really mind working in the rain (it felt great)! Luckily the skies cleared in enough time for Chase to play with it before bed time:

It blows my mind that he can actually make baskets!! He did NOT get this skill from me, that is for sure!

I will be posting photos to our Photo Album soon!

Chloe: 1 Month

2010-07-30T08:46:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe Chloe is 1 month old already! Keeping with tradition, here is her 1 Month photo with the "growth chart bear!"

More photos of her first month are in our Photo Album if you're interested!