Chloe Poses with Santa!!

We took her to the mall to run around, and so that we could get a few things there too. While Brad was off shopping, I took her to see Santa. She seemed receptive, so although it wasn't planned, I went ahead and get her picture taken with Santa!! She was so good. I got a pretty good shot at the end of just three pics that the lady took. Here is one from my phone, it is not as good...but, you get the picture!

CHLOE IS 2 YEARS OLD!!!

Our little princess is TWO!!! It is very surreal and hard to believe that Chloe is now two years old!! We had a wonderful birthday party at Uno's Pizza with a Hello Kitty theme *I even made and decorated the cake and cupcakes myself!!). We had thirty some people there including the Kells who drove in from Ohio, the Henrys, my sister from Bermuda, some of our college friends and lots of friends and children from the condo. It was a lot different than last year!! She got some wonderful gifts and fabulous time...I hope! It will fovever be a great memory! We love you baby girl so much!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Check out the cousins in the Cupcake Eating Competition!!!

Happy Halloween!

We had a great halloween with lots and lots of candy and chocolate! Our building has a Halloween party every year, which is nice because the kids do not have to venture out in the cold and it's an opportunity for the community to get together too. Chloe was dressed as a kitty cat, so cute!! And she loved the whiskers and face paint. She continues to ask me for whiskers on her face! Chloe won the Cutest Costume Award....of course!!! She had a lot of fun, and so did we. Best of all...she crashed!! Who knew the chocolate and excitement overload was reward us in such a fantastic way!

The Kells do Vegas!!

The Kells went on yet another trip! This time to Las Vegas baby!! Brad had a work conference, that fell over my 30th birthday, so Chloe, me and my mom tagged along. What fun!! We shopped, went to the pool, rode the Gondola, visited a few other hotels including Circus Circus so that Chloe could play and see some circus acts (no actual circus.....like the clowns and elephants I was talking about the whole day before!! - a bit misleading...but she had a great time anyways), went to a show and just overall had an awesome time.

Here are some pictures of the trip.

Chloe is 23 Months Old!!

My munchkin is almost 2 years old!! Still got one month left of the 1's!!!
Nothing too new to report on. We have been super duper busy these past few weeks. We are off to Vegas on Sunday and are very excited about that!! Brad has a conference so me and Chloe are tagging along and my Mom is coming to meet us from Bermuda. Yay!! Should be a fun time.
Then, when we return....more busy with the holidays and birthday!

Chloe Pooped in the Potty!

So - our lil munchkin hit another milestone!! I would not call her potty trained by any stretch of the imagination...but, we are headed in that direction. She has been becoming more aware of her own body lately and this includes pee pee and poo poo!

Last night she came to me and said, Mamma poo poo. So, I checked her and no poop. She then said it again and went to the bathroom door and pointed. I sent Brad in to let her sit on the potty.

Twenty minutes later......she had made her first poop in the potty! We were so proud of her! She sure is becoming a big girl!!

Chloe the Artist!!

Thanks to the help of Nana, and the referral of a mommy friend from her gym class - Chloe went to her first art class today! It was so cool. I think she really enjoyed it. She was a bit shy and quiet, which is to be expected on the first day of something so new, but nonetheless it was a success. She had the best painting by far!!! There were 10 kids in her class. She was the youngest by about 4 months. It is for 18month - 3 year olds. The teacher was very nice with 10 years experience. We will use different art materials each week, today was paint. I am a person who loves art myself so I am very excited, enthusiastic and happy to share this experience with Chloe. Here are a few pics from her first day at art class!

Costa Rica Vacation

The Kells have gone and returned from another international visit. We went to Costa Rica to visit my Dad for a week. We had such a great time. We got to relax, swim, shop, eat and sightsee. Chloe was really good on the flights, although I will admit there were a few restless moments, but she did great for a toddler. Heck, we were quite restless from time to time with the long traveling days.

She had a blast in Costa Rica. Spoiled my my Dad, Papa, and his girlfriend Angie, or Gigi as Chloe called her, she was obviously the center of attention for 8 days. We didn't worry too much about the 2 hour time difference and just let her eat when she was hungry, play all day and sleep when she was tired. And she sure did sleep well everyday! Although it was very relaxing we kept pretty busy. We got to attend the Costa Rica (and the whole of Central America) Independence Day parade. We got to go to an African Zoo in Costa Rica...a bit strange but really cool. Chloe got to feed giraffes, deers, camels and other animals. She was not frightened at all, she loved it. Who would have thunk the girl who screamed at the mere sight of Santa would love hand feeding a 15 foot giraffe carrots? As my Dad and Angie repeated time and time again - 'Chloe, she scared of nothing!'
Chloe also hit another milestone by swimming, with the aid of water wings!! It was pretty amazing how well and how quickly she conquered this skill. A few weeks before we left we went to the pool when cousin Evie was in town - who had on armbands, and Chloe wanted hers on. Well, that was day one. Day two I did a quick no hands - and she squealed and giggled with excitment. By day three, I could not hold her at all!! Fearless I tell you. In Costa Rica she took it to the next level. Dunking her head in the water, swimming all around the pool by herself (under close supervision of course!) and the grand finale of jumping in the pool by herself!!! Next summer there will be no stopping her!
All in all, we just had a great time. It was hard to leave as usual and as expected. We cannot wait until next time already. Thanks so much Dad for a wonderful vacation!

Cousins Sweet as Cherries!

We just made a weekend roadtrip to Uniontown, PA and met up with the Kells' and Richeys' for Brad's cousin's baby shower. The shower was a huge success and we can't wait to meet another cousin - a boy, AJ!! We had a really awesome time visiting with all the family. The girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves and played so great together. So precious those two!

Chloe is 22 Months Old!

Is someone kidding me here....22 months! We are on the 2 month countdown to 2!!! Chloe is up to the same ol things these days, just perfecting and expanding them a little. She is still very active - climbing, running and jumping all over the house. She really loves her gym class every week that teaches her new skills to practice at home. She loves books and is even sitting a little still to read. Her talking is progressing quite well and now she has a fairly large stockpile of words she knows how to say. A few of her newest are backpack, frog, cup and eat. Regardless of how many words she knows, one thing is for sure - she can get her message across really well. She makes you understand!

It is not only hard to believe that our baby is approaching two, but that it is September already. Before we know it, it'll be Halloween (she is gonna be a kitty cat!), Birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and another year. I am not in a rush, I assure you....but, boy are these moments, days and weeks flying by. Cheers to a great summer!

Visit with the Ohio Fam!

Last week we had FredPa, Grandma Crystal, Auntie Andie, Uncle Mitch, Cousin Claire and Uncle Joe come into town to visit and celebrate FredPa's 60th birthday!! We had such a great time. The girls got along so well - they sure are growing up fast.