Sugarplum Fairies

12.13.09

Chloe Jane had her first mini dance recital on Saturday. Needless to say, it was precious. They danced to "The First Noel" and dressed as little sugarplum fairies. Not to brag, but I will -- Chloe is one of the tallest girls in the class, but they moved her front and center because she knew the dance the best (which is really not saying all that much). Sigh. She takes after her Momma. :) Here is the two minute dance clip:

Enjoy!


Scarlett continues to grow and do new things every day. She is such a sweet baby and is starting to smile more and even laugh out loud! She has slept for stretches as long as 7 hours at a time (of course not consistently, don't be ridiculous!). Enjoy this video of Scarlett in her Bumpo chair at only nine weeks old! Wowza!



Chloe is really excited about Santa this year, although not excited enough to sit in his lap or anything crazy like that! We are really enjoying celebrating the holiday season through the eyes of a three year old. Talk about magical!

Halloween '09

11.5.09

We had a great time at a Halloween birthday party this year! Our two little ladybugs all dressed up for Trick or Treat!


And here is Chloe Jane and her cousin Benjamin during a playdate. (Benjamin is dressed as a magician--that's all the dress up I could improvise for a boy):



Scarlett officially has acid reflux and we have started on Prevacid. When she keeps her meds down, life is good. If she spits it up, let's just say it makes for a loooong night of feeding and crying, crying and feeding. Overall, she is still a sweet, sweet baby. She reminds me sooo much of Chloe. Scarlett is becoming more and more aware and staying awake for longer periods of time.

Chillin in her bouncy seat with her Lamby (check out the size of those feet!):


Chloe continues to adjust well to life as a family of four. Although, she seems to be a little jealous of the baby's toys??? What do you think???




Scarlett's first tummy time:

Sisters

10.27.09

Sigh. I always wanted a sister. (Love ya, Daniel!) So it does my heart good to see my girls together. They are just too sweet!

Sisters:


Scarlett has started spitting up more often; we remain hopeful that she doesn't have the dreaded acid reflux! Other than that, she is still sleeping well (as well as a newborn can sleep) and doing fine. Although she is a relatively chill baby, she does have her moments. Of course, it isn't her that has a temper and starts screaming. It is obviously her alter ego, Rojo Loco (closely related to Chloe's alter ego, Coco Loco). But even Rojo isn't THAT bad! Things are going well!

Sleeping Baby at almost 3 weeks old:


Chloe is excited for this week. Pumpkin carving, trick or treating, candy, Halloween dress up parties at school and this weekend to attend. And best of all, she gets to wear her costume to ballet, even!!! How exciting! I will post pictures of the costumes after Halloween this weekend. Happy Fall!

Scarlett Ruth

10.20.09

It has been a long time since my last post and we've been very busy. On September 30, 2009 at 5:43, we welcomed Scarlett Ruth to our family. She weighed 8 lbs exactly and was 21 inches long. We all think that she looks a lot like Chloe Jane did when she was born!



So far, Big Sister Chloe is doing well. She hasn't asked us to take her back to the hospital yet, which we think is a good sign! She loves her little sister!



We are settling into life with two kids and adjusting to find our new normal. I have another three weeks off of work for maternity leave. I am enjoying bonding with Scarlett very much.



It is amazing to watch our two girls together!


Scarlett sleeps very well for a newborn -- anywhere from 3 to 5 hours at a time. So far, it doesn't seem like she has the acid reflux issues that Chloe Jane struggled with for the first few months. We are hoping that doesn't change!



We promise to update often with lots of new pics of our girls!!!

The Waiting Game/Whale Watching

9.26.09

Sorry about the lack of blogging lately, but I have been very tired again in the last trimester. I know, I know, bad Mommy. Let's see, what have we been up to lately? Mostly just trying to keep busy. Chloe wanted to have her hair done like Hannah Montana. As usual, her wish is my command:

I guess these are her performance faces???








Some friends of ours brought over their little baby girl and Chloe was amazed by how tiny she was. My friend Kim also brought over her adorable baby boy Griffin, and Chloe was excited to watch him learning to walk! It definitely gave me some piece of mind to watch her interact with those two babies!

I swear she is only hugging him:

Look at her tiny feet!

I have no idea what she was doing here?



Chris, Chloe and I are MORE than ready for Scarlett to make her debut. Okay, so maybe it's just me. I'm getting more and more uncomfortable/miserable. Next Wednesday I will be induced if I don't go into labor before then. We will keep you posted!
I guess I am that huge? I certainly feel it!

The Very First Ballet Lesson

8.9.09

Chloe had her first ballet lesson on Saturday. To say that she was excited would be the understatement of the year, folks. She could not sleep the night before. You would have thought it was Christmas Eve or something. Finally, finally, the time had come on Saturday. Her excitement was contagious. She was overcome with emotion.

Frankly, I was worried that it would be a let down. But it wasn't! She LOVED it! There are four other girls in her class and her teacher seems nice. She did a really good job following directions and performed excellently on the balance beam. :) She pouted and sniffed a little when we left because she wanted to go back for more. I assured her that we would go to ballet every week. She got to pick a sucker from the treasure chest before she left, so that cheered her up a bit. Here are some pics and videos (Erin, does this bring back some memories or what???) :








And, of course, as any good coach would, Chris went to talk to the teacher after the class to see what she thought of Chloe's raw talent and ability. As always, there was indeed room for improvement. See Exhibit A below, entitled "Jumping Over the Tutu" (Take note of her second pass. The kid is no dummy) :

[Editorial note: The videos will have to be updated at a later date due to technical difficulties. Sorry!]


IN OTHER NEWS: Thankfully, there is a new movie in our lives!!! I love "Annie," but how many times can you watch it? My mom bought "Mary Poppins" for Chloe, which was always a favorite of mine. For some unexplained reason, Chloe calls it the "Hippinpop" movie, but I know what she is talking about. Be on the lookout for the singing videos when she finally learns "Spoonful of Sugar" or "Supercallifragilisticexpealidocious." (Spellcheck, anyone???) That video should be good for a chuckle or two.

Let's all wish Chris a great school year and basketball season for the upcoming year! Poor baby has to go back to work tomorrow!

Last Day of Daddy's Summer Day Camp

8.6.09

The summer has flown by for Chris, and next Monday he reports back to work at his new high school. He has really enjoyed spending time with Chloe and I have enjoyed watching their bond become even stronger. Today was the last day of Daddy and Chloe Summertime Fun (tomorrow she has school). It's hard to imagine that next summer, Scarlett will be joining in the fun as well! Chloe and Chris spent their last day dancing, having lunch with me at work, taking a long nap and swimming. Sounds like a great day to me! Here is some video footage:



And here is another video illustrating all the jokes Daddy taught her this summer (or variations thereof):



Who can account for the comedy that appeals to three year olds??? I cannot.

Chloe's last swimming lesson was Wednesday. I think she really enjoyed herself. This Saturday we start a ballet class that also incorporates tap and tumbling. Chloe has been so excited about ballet classes and has asked about it since she was two years old. Upon inquiry, I found out that they didn't start classes until the age of 3. Let's just say that Chloe was looking forward to turning three years old, in large part due to the fact that she knew she could start dance lessons. Since we bought her leotard, tights and shoes, she wants to wear them all the time. To the store, to sleep in, etc. etc. It is a constant fight to get her to wear anything else. [Insert comment from my Mom and/or Dad about how I deserve this because I was the same way about my leotards as a little girl.] Here are some pics:






And here is one last one of our little ballerina in Scarlett's crib:



Here is a fun little side-story. FAIR WARNING: It is not for the faint of heart. Or stomach, for that matter. This is an actual conversation that occurred as Chris was driving away from my office this afternoon.

Chris (looking in rearview mirror and noticing that Chloe was chewing something): "Hey, Chloe Bears. Whatcha' eatin'?"
Chloe: "Chicken."
Chris: "Chicken, huh? Where did you get chicken?"
Chloe: "It was on my shoe."

GUH-ROSS. As you can imagine, after this conversation, there was a looooong discussion on why we do not eat things that are stuck to the bottom of our shoes. (I'm gagging as I type this.) Why, oh, why did Chris tell me this??? Ignorance is truly bliss.

Random pics

7.22.09

Here are some random pictures that I keep forgetting to upload to the blog.

We attended a Memorial Day party at my Aunt Sandra's house. Chloe got to play with her older cousin, Tatum, whom she adores. Mimi bought them matching dresses:


Chloe had a blast riding around in Tatum's golf cart. Chris and I can only hope and pray that her driving skills will improve over the next 13 or so years. Eek!


Next on the agenda was Grandparents Camp at Mimi and Pawpa's house. Don't the cousins all look like they are having a blast?


Seriously, though, they had a blast. Here are some pics of Chloe and her cousin Davis at the Children's Museum downtown (or oooooseum, as Chloe says).




For the Fourth of July, we attended Kate's 4th of July Extravaganza! One might assume that the highlight of that party for Chloe was playing with the other kids, jumping in the moonwalk, playing with the glow-in-the-dark necklaces Kate bought, etc, etc, etc. But alas, that was not the case. Chloe's favorite part of the evening was dressing up in Auntie Kate's finest jewelry and high heels. What a great Auntie!!!


Happy Birthday, America, from our little Statue of Liberty

Our Last Family of Three Vacation

Building Sand Castles


7.21.09

We just got back on Monday from our family vacation to Destin, Florida. It was relaxing and fun -- once we got there. The car ride there...not so much. Between mine and Chloe's bathroom breaks and my swelling hands and feet, it was slllllooooooow moving, to say the least. Traveling such a long distance in the car during my third trimester was probably not one of my smartest ideas. Nevertheless, Chloe had a blast once we got there. Plus, we broke up the trip by stopping in Baton Rouge. Building sand castles, walking on the beach and swimming in the pool in the evenings were her favorite activities.

Chloe Jane and Momma


Chloe Jane and Daddy



The Family of Three (and a half)


Chloe Jane and Drake


What a ham! Where does she get it?


"We in Fwo-ee-dah...Yay!"

"Things to Do Today"

Swimmin' with the Fishes

7.07.09

Chloe loved her swim lesson last week! She even invited her swim teacher, Ms. Heather, back to the house to play with her toys. :) She becomes more confident with every trip to the pool. She is working on using the kickboard to swim and kick and going underwater for increasingly longer periods of time.



Floating


I am beginning my seventh month of pregnancy and have to see the doctor every two weeks now. This got me thinking...where has the time gone??? The second pregnancy has literally gone light-years faster than the first. This revelation, coupled with the birth of two babies recently (Congrats, Kelly!; Congrats, Eric!), made me nostalgic. I started looking back at newborn pictures of Chloe Jane. How could this possibly have been three whole years ago??? And how could she possibly look any different??? Here are some of my favorites:

Our New Family of Three in the Hospital


Me, Chloe Jane and Mom in the Hospital


First Trip Home from the Hospital


First Photoshoot at 3 months


Sweet Baby


1st Valentine's Day


I'll stop now. Mostly because I'm hormonal -- and Chris is out of town -- and I could post pictures all night long if I don't just quit now. ;)