chlo-worm

2010-07-11T22:28:00.001-07:00

the world awaits for my baby girl. i'm so glad she's in our life.

:calendar:

2010-05-22T11:48:00.001-07:00

as a part of my renaissance into organization, i am implementing a schedule that structures each weekday with a theme. for example, fridays will now be Cookin' Fridays, or Bakin' Fridays. each friday we will make some sort of delicious dessert together, and then eat it! other ideas are craft day, park day and tea party day (chloe's idea).

yesterday was a test run on bakin' fridays with red velvet cake. chloe saw one at costco last week and wanted to buy it. we didn't buy it, but i told her we could try making it one day. it was less than stellar. i'm a great cook and a mediocre baker. ah well. it was a long and delicious process and she had fun. we also got to sport our matching starbucks aprons. that was my favorite part!

here's to many more delectable sweets and treats!

2010-02-22T07:09:00.001-08:00

this season of life, mainly this winter, moving into spring, has been full. the metaphors of change, death, planting and re-growth are very evident in our family, which is both beautiful, and difficult.

in the midst of it all, there is chloe. she is the little sprout that continues to nourish us and others with her immense light and joy.

i love her.

:reminisce:

2009-12-29T22:09:00.000-08:00

these photos were taken a few months ago, when chloe tried on my flower girl dress that i wore 26 years ago.

uncanny resemblance.

:halloween 4:

2009-10-31T07:26:00.000-07:00

technically, this is her 4th halloween, but really the first in which she gets the whole dress up and candy thing.

i feel like a wretched mother because i did not know they were having a parade at school. when i got there to pick her up, all the kids (the whole school) were marching around the playground looking a bit dazed and confused, while parents lovingly snapped pictures for posterity. i brought my camera with me when i dropped her off, but not to pick up. because of this parade, i had to park pretty far away, and was not able to get my camera in time to capture her first halloween parade. i felt pretty badly. i know there are many more years of halloween charades to come, but this was her first.

alas, TODAY is actually halloween, and i will be ready with camera to shoot while she trick-or-treats in our neighborhood for the first time. we went last year in vegas, but she really had no clue what she was doing, besides the fact that there was candy at the end.

this year she is cinderella. princesses are a big thing right now. she is obsessed with pumpkins, and any store that we go into, she has to touch every single pumpkin. she loudly proclaims every time that she sees a pumpkin or spider web in someone's halloween decor. but there is one house around the corner that she is particularly obsessed with. it's certainly the most decorated of the neighborhood, and even a bit scary (to me..i'm a chicken). it has this HUGE spider, about the size of a small car, on top of the roof, with red eyes, and a big 'ol web coming down from the roof to the ground, with another large spider. pumpkins abound, and there's some life-size mummy thing hanging from the eaves of the house. thankfully, i don't think she realizes what that is, yet. everyday, without fail, when we get in the car, she asks to drive by the house. sometimes we do, sit for a moment, observe the spider in broad daylight, and move on. i am curious to see how she reacts when it's dark, and the house takes on a completely different persona.

yesterday, in the midst of my bad parenting moment, she started telling me she was scared of the witches. she wanted to go home from school as soon as i got there, which is unusual. lately, she's been watching snow white, which is quite scary. i actually thought it was too much for her, and even more so now. no more snow white. anyway, her teacher, ms. rita, was a witch, so i asked chloe if she was scary, too? chloe said, "no, she's just ms. rita." fair enough.

it's strange to watch how kids begin to develop this fear. it really does seem to be influenced by the environment they're in, or the things they see. until snow white, witches were not a problem. i suppose that sometimes, in life, ignorance is bliss.

anyway, here are a few shots from our 2nd pumpkin carving last night (our first pumpkin collapsed, literally, into a fruit fly grave of mold and stinkiness):

:later summer update:

2009-09-11T07:25:00.000-07:00

this is more like the once every 2 months update.

summer has been busy. we keep thinking that life will slow down, but alas, it continues to speed up!

we went to washington a couple weeks ago, to celebrate my 29th birthday and enjoy a mariner's game on WSU alumni night. fun times, great weather.

we also had the pleasure of checking out sauvie island in portland, which is one of my new favorite spots!

last weekend we went to vegas for a sort of last minute adventure to the desert. really, there wasn't anything adventurous about it, but we had a lot of laughs and pool time. chloe finally let go and plunged in! it's been a process over this summer of getting her used to the water. at the beginning, she would barely get in the water. now she dives in with reckless abandon. so proud!

this past week, chloe started preschool. she is going to a public school nearby, and involved in what we call "State" preschool. basically, it's free because we don't make a lot of money. it's the answer to a lot of prayers. daycare is too expensive (as much as we love them!), and chloe really needs the daily social interaction that she thrives off of. we put her on the waiting list earlier this summer, expecting it would be another year before she was accepted. when i got the letter that she got it, i was so thrilled! today will be her 4th day as a preschooler, and she's not even 3! she will be 3 on tuesday, the 15th!
of course, she loves it, and comes out with the biggest smile everyday. she talks all about her friends, and how they love her. so precious.

last day of daycare...pics of school to come soon...

for her birthday, jared REALLY wants to take her to chuck-e-cheese, so on monday night, the locals are going to meet up for some pizza and robotic rats dancing. sort of like a rite of passage as an american toddler. for her birthday, everyone pitched in to get her tumbling classes at this place called JW Tumblers. it looks like chloe heaven. she starts on the 19th.

so, that brings us up to speed. we're going to big bear the end of this month for some family time with my parents, sisters, grandmas, etc. should be fun! and next month i begin my year long training for yoga therapy. i will be gone for about 10 days in L.A., half of which i have to do without chloe. i'm pretty nervous about that, but it's for the best.

we love you all!

:the summer post:

2009-07-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

i don't know how life seems to snowball together into one giant lump of busyness, but it does. phew.

we have been all over the place: st. louis, L.A., bowling, the Welk, weddings, baseball games and on and on...

in the midst of going and going, we've been really enjoying chloe and her quirky personality. she is a true joy. my day begins and ends with the thought of her, and i love it.
that being said, she has still mastered the art of turning on the waterworks at any given time, and now insists that she gets a treat after every meal and every dookie. this will be a hard one to break...no pun intended.

she has a new friend, kaia, who is just a few months younger. thankfully for us, her parents are a lot like us and getting the kids together is a good excuse for us parents to chill with some beers and a game of mario kart.

more and more i am thankful for this time. sometimes it's difficult when you can't do your own thing, but we have health and family and there isn't much else that could be better.

:the big one:

2009-05-14T22:24:00.000-07:00

we have been trying to potty train for a long while. just when we thought we were getting there, she regressed. i am told this is normal.

so, while we've been trying, we came to a point where we realized, like nearly everyone has told us, that she would do it when she was ready. i just didn't think that time would be when she's sporting a 104 degree fever...but it 'twas!

last week, she woke up cranky and sick, mild fever, telling me her body hurt. she also told me she had to pee pee. i wasn't too alarmed because this happens a lot. but we went in there, sat her down, and to the delight of my ears, those precious sounds of tinkle started echoing through the porcelain bowl. i'm pretty sure...wait no. i WAS overly excited. i was doing a freakin' pee pee dance, screaming, throwing out high fives. it was so simple. all this agony and holding and then poof! she does it!

of course, i didn't want to get too excited. she has peed before. but something was different. happy to say, that most of her pee pee has been in the toilet for the past few days. she held it the ENTIRE day at daycare on tuesday, but let it all out the minute she got home in the toilet. the poop is a different story. she's done it in the toilet, but there is definitely a high level of anxiety that goes along with excreting something out of your anus and into a bowl.

you know what...i don't care. she pees in the toilet and i am starting to get pretty confident that she's going to tell me about it before it happens. she even peed at erin's house tonight. that's when you know you hit the big time...the potty goes in other toilets, too!

potty training is really like most other things in life. you can't expect too much. when you start to expect your kid to be trained by a certain age, or to do it in a certain way, you just get exhausted, frustrated and generally poopy (pun intended). as parents, i suppose we have to let go of those expectations just as much as we have to let go of our children as they grow older.

i really enjoy her right now, just how she is. she's the most awesome kid ever!

<3 you, chloe :)

:so much stuff:

2009-04-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

the past month has been crazy. we moved into our first house, have had a few house guests, celebrated 60th, 30th and 1st birthdays, celebrated easter, went to disneyland, went hiking and somehow managed to slip in a baseball game!

so, rather that talk about it all, i will just let some photos do the work!

enjoy!

DISNEYLAND

EASTER

HIKING WITH AUNT ERIN

U-PICK STRAWBERRY FARM

:home!:

2009-03-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

well, it is now official. we are homeowners.

chloe could not be more thrilled to run around like a crazy chicken. plenty of yard space to explore and get dirty in.

we spent most of the day there, meeting with various contractors to get things done, and thus, had a lot of time to trim up vines, take down the seemingly hundreds of wreaths and other country decor and plug in our old tv in the garage, jared's manspace.

it was really fun.

here is chloe in our shed, her pseudo playhouse, and the family in front of the house for their first picture!

:2009 update:

2009-02-26T21:41:00.000-08:00

my apologies for the long absence.

so much has happened, is happening and surely will happen.

the collages are just a collection of photos over the last month or so. one day at the beach with friends, time with my dad and grandma, wild animal park, and fun times at home.

chloe has become such a wonderful, playful addition to our lives. yes...she has moments of being a terrible 2. but overall, she brings a lot of joy.

she talks a lot. she loves to read, especially "The Snowy Day" and "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut". She's currently obsessed with The Fox and the Hound. She has become very attached to certain blankets for no apparent reason. She has proven to be a great actress, especially when i drop her off at daycare.

we started going to a new church about a month ago, and she is doing great there. we all feel at home there.

she is most excited, as are we, about the house that we are currently in the process of buying. she can't wait to tear up that yard with her voracious, 2 year old footsteps. we can't wait to see her smile there :)

wow.

:fish:

2009-01-03T18:15:00.001-08:00

chloe likes fish, which is great. the problem is, her word for "fish" sounds like "shits". today as i was putting her in the car at the store, we were talking about fish, and she loudly proclaimed, with a smile, "SHITS!"

no one was around, but i laughed and continued to try and sound out the word for her. so far, no luck. i suppose it's just one of those adorable toddlerisms.

the other thing, which is really amazing to me as her mother, is how observant she is. we were walking around trader joe's in the wine section, when she starting pointing at something in the dessert aisle, saying, "muh-ee," which is her word for "money". i turned around, somewhat perplexed, because i just couldn't figure out what on earth would cause her to say money. as i scanned the aisle, i saw a sign above the desserts with a large, hand drawn silver coin. it was either a nickel or dime, but regardless, she quickly saw that thing we call money.

i suppose the fact that she knows its money isn't really that amazing, but that she could find it in the store, in a different form than she knows at home, and yell it out, was really cool to me.

oh yeah...she also pees and poops in the toilet about once a day!
yeah!

:white Christmas...continued:

2009-01-02T21:30:00.001-08:00

some more photos

:first white Christmas:

2008-12-29T10:52:00.000-08:00

just got back from washington.
lots of photos, but here are a few from our snowy Christmas!

:the animals:

2008-12-10T07:46:00.000-08:00

i keep forgetting to post these photos from the wild animal park. i took chloe up there a couple weeks ago, and it was so cool. since i was by myself with her, we didn't stay super long, but we at least got to do the tram ride and pet some big deer. that's a lot different then petting goats at the zoo!

here she is:

:december nights:

2008-12-08T16:45:00.000-08:00

we took the bus to balboa park's december nights. it's said that around 300,000 people came, which meant that driving the 2 miles there just wasn't an option.

chloe loved the bus. we loved not being behind the wheel.

here she is:

2008-12-03T19:31:00.001-08:00

last weekend, on the 28th, chloe pooped in the toilet for the first time. it hasn't happened since, but we know there is hope...and we couldn't be happier.

here are some shots from the monumental moment. unfortunately, one of the nuggets missed the pot. better luck next time!

:t-giving:

2008-11-29T14:40:00.001-08:00

:lovin' the beach:

2008-11-06T21:32:00.000-08:00

we randomly ran into our friend brianna at ocean beach at sunset. she is into photography and just happened to have her camera. she got some great shots of chloe:

:the mountains!:

2008-10-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

this past weekend we took a last minute trip up to Big Bear area where our friends, the hofman's, live.
we had a total blast. we really needed the escape from city life, and feel blessed to have time with their family.

here are some shots from our time. it was cooooooold!

:2:

2008-09-20T21:35:00.000-07:00

she turned two! can you believe it?!

it was a pretty mellow birthday since we were in seattle the previous weekend...just a homemade cake, a few simple presents and a night with community group. she was happy.

ever since her birthday, she's been an angel. i don't know if it's the daycare, our discipline, or just growing up, but she has been so joyful, obedient and simply lovely.

here are some shots from her birthday:

:first of firsts:

2008-09-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

today was her first day of daycare.
i am not really sure what to think.
i am thrilled on the one hand, but like all of you parents out there know, there is a sadness, an emptiness that accompanies the freedom that is very unsettling.

i keep reminding myself that we wanted this, for her and for us, but mainly for her.
and as i think about that very fact, i am suddenly inundated with countless future moments where i will be watching my daughter leave, maybe out of anger, maybe out of simply growing up. either way, she will be gone.

my day was full of valleys and peaks. i cried when we got home from dropping her off, but rejoiced when jared and i were able to have a LUNCH date. i forced myself to sit for 5 minutes before i went to get her, even though i was dying to to see her.

when i saw her sweaty, rosy cheeks, and she saw me, the screams of "baba" could not have been sweeter. i wanted to do everything with her.
and that is when i knew this was the right choice. we all need our time. i am a better, more patient mother and wife when i have a few moments to myself; even if "myself" means me and an entire store full of people. it is kelly, the woman, not just kelly, the mother. there is a difference, albeit, it sometimes gets confused.

so, one milestone down, just before her 2nd birthday. it's good prep for the future.

just look at this face (and the new [first] haircut):

2008-09-05T21:57:00.001-07:00

the who from whoville:

:our chicken:

2008-09-03T14:45:00.000-07:00

2008-08-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

this is what happens when chloe eats stuffed shells with ricotta cheese:

2008-08-19T14:34:00.001-07:00

she's so lovely.

:choo-choo:

2008-08-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

chloe's new obsession is the miniature train at balboa park. while she is still a bit scared, she is also in awe. she likes to ride it, but i think she likes to watch it even more. she just keeps repeating, "tree tree!", or "train train". so, here are some shots my dad took of us while we rode and watched :)

:she's back:

2008-08-04T12:07:00.000-07:00

chloe is back from kauai!

check her out in paradise!

:see you in august:

2008-07-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

off and running to kauai...in a paper bag dress!
(and no, she's not bleeding. but she may have tried to eat a marker.)

:summer time:

2008-07-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

so here we are, the week of our long awaited, anticipated, and somewhat dreaded trip to kauai. certainly not dreaded for the actual time we'll be there, but for the part where we are on a plane for 5 hours with a very active 2 year old!

we are torn between being super excited and completely unsure of unknown. but, overall, this should be a very rewarding first family vacation.

what else is new?

chloe is active and incredibly coordinated. she climbs, runs, says "jump jump" on the bed, rides her trike, kicks her ball, and plays silly games with jared on the bed. she is nonstop, and when i say nonstop, i truly mean it. just ask anyone who spends a day with chloe. she keep us busy and makes us laugh.

she babbles a lot, with random words thrown in. it's definitely been easier to communicate. and along with that better communication comes the defiance: the "no's" and "wants". she gets some naughty chair time almost everyday, and it seems to work. it's actually the only time she will sit still.

all in all, she is a joy. she still sleeps great, although she recently figured out how to climb out of the crib. it has only happened once, but i expect there to be more incidences soon :)

she's cuter than ever and has THE BEST baby mullet. people keep saying we should cut it, but why? it's so cute!

thanks for keeping up with chloe even though we aren't the best at keeping this blog anymore. we shall try.

xoxo

:chicken on a bike:

2008-06-23T08:01:00.000-07:00

i've had many photos waiting to be edited, and have finally been able to work a few.

chloe has a new toy...a bike! she rode a friend's bike and loved it. since she's obviously still a bit small, jared bought her a radio flyer trike, with a detachable bar. she can't quite pedal herself, so we push her. it's great. it's like a stroller, but more interactive.

she spent all day yesterday with her san diego family, the hoovers. they VERY graciously took her while jared and i went to a dodger game in LA with my dad for father's day. she had such a blast that i'm not sure she wanted to come home. it was a great day for all.

she talks a lot. she's at that stage where she tries to copy many things we say. she also tells us when she has pee pee or poo poo. one step closer to the all glorious potty!

here are some recent photos, including one taken by chloe!

taken by chloe!

:water park-ish:

2008-06-07T23:02:00.000-07:00

chloe has really started talking. it's still a bit sketchy at times, but she says some of the following:

• where did it go?
• here we go
• thanks
• there it is
• outside
• all gone

i'm sure there are others, but that's a taste.

she's started to play like a girl. she now has a little mini stroller with a 23 year old cabbage patch doll that happily rides in it. she pushes it around all day. and at night, she sleeps with the doll. her feminine side is really kicking in. it's very sweet.

she and i have been sick this past week, with me getting REALLY sick, and actually having to go to the doctor. chloe was fine, though.

we are slowly creeping towards the potty training. she now says "uh-oh" when she farts, she calls her potty "t-t", which is what i named it, and she goes under her easel to poop. if i ask her if she's pooped, she points to her bottom. so i try to catch her whenever she runs under the easel. she knows where to go and what to do, but the second she sits on the seat, she gets gun shy. that, and she never stops moving; thus, it's a bit hard to keep her sitting long enough to get anything out. we are getting there. i have hope that the poop will be coming soon. meanwhile, we'll just keep trying.

we've spent a couple days up at the welk with the schauermanns, and the following are some photos from her time in the kid play area. chloe was a BIG fan.

cheers.

:chloe no shirt:

2008-05-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

some photos from this past weekend. isn't she the cutest?!

2008-04-29T14:23:00.001-07:00

chloe spent some time with our pastor's kids, enna & ennyn, a couple weeks ago. so cute :)

2008-04-23T22:19:00.000-07:00

chloe had her first kiss. his name is paxton.

watch out boys. :)

:finally, baseball season:

2008-04-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

we're watching the teletubbies on a saturday morning, and chloe is copying them as they stick their bellies out. so adorable.

so, we've moved. we now live in a slightly smaller apartment, but in an area we truly love. really, we're only a mile from our other place, just spending $300 less a month to live.

chloe has really been enjoying her new home that has carpet everywhere, making it a completely new environment for play. we also live just a couple blocks from our favorite park, meaning we no longer have to drive there!

the day after we moved, which was not only the day that chloe's first cousin, annabelle mae, was born, but also both of my dads' birthdays, we took my dad, guy, to a dodgers vs. padres game. it was really a lovely day, perfect april day in the first week of baseball. can't wait for more this season!

:march updates:

2008-04-02T13:52:00.000-07:00

it's bad, i know. i haven't posted in about a month, or more?

so where's chloe?

she likes to pray. we say, "let's pray," and she puts out her hands so we can hold them, and then she smiles. we do it at dinner and now we do it before bed. last night we tucked her in together, which doesn't always happen since our schedules change so much.

she's more vocal. identifiable words are: hot, no, dog and an occasional thank you. granted, i think i'm the only one that understands.

her dancing has reached new heights. her new favorite thing is to dance naked in front of her mirror right after a bath. there's no music, just her checking herself out.

she likes to play a game i call flashlight chicken. this is exclusively a daddy/chloe game. he turns all the lights off, and hides in a room with her flashlight. when she comes cautiously in, he jumps out with the flashlight on his face...and she loves it. she's brave. i get scared.

lately she makes it very clear that i need to stay home when i get home. maybe because i'm gone a lot. she's ok when i leave, but the second i walk in the door, she runs up and tries to take my bag off my arm, and points to my shoes, making sure i take them off and put everything down. sometimes she even tugs at my jacket so that i'll take it off.

today she's been running a fever so we've been laying low. hopefully it doesn't turn into anything to big, but we shall see.

here's a few recent photos of her in heels and a bonfire we had with our community group.

enjoy.

:just got some film developed...:

2008-02-25T17:25:00.000-08:00

so here's some black and whites i took of chloe:

:dance dance chloe:

2008-02-23T22:14:00.000-08:00

finally...this is what happens when jared and chloe are home alone. classic...

:girls just wanna have fun:

2008-02-23T21:02:00.000-08:00

our neighbor above us, gary, left this on our doorstep:

it's awesome. we are so grateful!

tonight we had our close friends jared, rhian and their daughter jaelyn over for some bbq. the girls are really starting to play together and enjoy one another. they eat together and even bathe together. chloe takes the upper hand, but she is 7 months older. they're adorable.

:shoes & berries:

2008-02-16T16:52:00.000-08:00

some photos from today...

2008-02-15T11:02:00.001-08:00

right now, chloe is copying dance moves on sesame street. hilarious. she has such rhythm.

last night, as i was trying to clean up the mess that inevitably resides on the floor following a dinner, chloe quietly went to the hall cabinet, pulled out a rag (one which i normally use to clean various things), and started wiping the floor beneath the table. it was so precious.

i think she was under the weather yesterday because jared said she just fell asleep on the couch for over 2 hours in the morning. maybe most kids do this, but not chloe. she NEVER just falls asleep somewhere. so, last night around 7pm, feeling very tired from such an early nap, she walked into her dark room and waited for me to come in. i guess that was her way of saying, "put me to bed, mom." cool.

she does the signs for water and more. she tries to say agua, but it's still a bit unclear.

she's really been enjoying the almost daily trips to the park. she loves the swing, and going up the slides. this girl has no fear, either.

she's 17 months today.

:last weekend with grandpa:

2008-02-15T08:22:00.001-08:00

will someone please tell me what we're doing here? oh, i know...i'm trying to convince chloe to eat a deliciously fresh mandarin orange that she thinks she doesn't like.

i love this portrait

zoo day

2008-02-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

it's been like summer here. yesterday it was seriously about 80. i guess it's sort of nice, although i wouldn't mind a little more cold before the heat.

anyway, since it was such a lovely friday, one in which i didn't have to work (very rare), we decided to make use of our zoo pass. what a perfect afternoon. it was almost hot, but not quite, the zoo was not too crowded and the three of us were able to really be a family. i wish that could happen more.

we got there and had lunch...some overpriced chicken fingers and fries. but chloe loved it. she even ate the raisins. then we started the long trek down the hill, through the aviaries, by the primates, and then back up to the elephants. of course, by this time, chloe was no longer enjoying a casual stroller ride. so, we let her walk. hilarious. mainly because it was jared chasing her.
she was so happy.

all in all, it was a wildly successful.

:messy mess:

2008-02-05T14:56:00.001-08:00

chloe is very independent. spend an hour with her and you will understand what we mean.
part of this is her strong will to feed herself. it begins with a utensil, but usually ends up like this:

these are from 2 different eating session, one with chili and one with mangos and spinach. i can't complain, though. at least the kid eats!

:snow:

2008-01-30T13:48:00.000-08:00

chloe saw her first snow...and protested.

we spent about 5 days in vegas with my family. jared got to ski, and thankfully, the local ski spot had just received 8 inches of fresh powder. we drove up to meet up with them and capture chloe's excitement over all this white stuff. well, she wouldn't even stand on it. bummer.

she was not a good baby while we were there. lots of people, boredom, i don't know. but i'm glad that she's home because she's much happier.

here are some photos from our trip:

:3 cheers for naps:

2008-01-20T12:25:00.000-08:00

today, even though chloe has been a little turd lately, she did something i truly appreciate.

we were in the living room and it was nap time. so, i turned off pbs, and said, "come on...let's go to bed!", held out my hand and she grabbed it, leading me to her room. i closed the blinds, turned on her heater and she walked to the crib and held the bars like she actually wanted IN! i put her down, she grabbed her turtle pillow and laid her head down like she wanted to sleep. we said our goodbyes and i didn't hear another peep.

that makes my sick day a lot better.

:oh the ears:

2008-01-16T07:23:00.000-08:00

well, chloe has her first ear infection. she woke up a couple nights in a row with a raging fever, and i finally took her in yesterday. pretty much what i thought. besides losing her voracious appetite, she's been a good sport.

here's chloe in her new shoes, with some other accessories of her choosing (& placement).

2008-01-12T15:42:00.000-08:00

chillin' with the laundry while watching rachel.

:scribbles, Christmas & foooood:

2007-12-27T07:57:00.001-08:00

first, some Christmas photos:

her Christmas outfit, compliments of Corianne.

Chloe's first scribbles with the crayons we got her.

the product of those first scribbles

she's so stinkin' cute. thanks to my dad for some of the photos.

it seems like she's developing exponentially. she copies everything. she understands everything, usually in both languages. she also eats everything, of course.

yesterday she found a q-tip in the bathroom and started putting it in her ear. i know she watches me everyday as i do that and she finally realized what it's used for.

this morning while she was eating her oatmeal, she heard the teletubbies saying "bye bye" and followed with a wave and a smile.

we have a harmonica and i was playing it to entertain her. she took it and because she hasn't mastered the blowing, she started mimicking the sound with her own voice. pretty smart.

i think one of the most shocking new things to me is how she insists on feeding herself. for so long she hasn't really been interested. she loves to eat, but seemed to prefer me feeding her. well, all of a sudden, she takes the spoon out of my hand and proceeds to try and pick up whatever is in the bowl. sometimes she's successful, but most of the time she just makes a mess. that's ok. when she does get a bite in her mouth, we cheer. needless to say, the feeding time takes a bit longer now. but it's so fun to watch her get it all. and, it seems like she uses her left hand a bit more. she still switches, but the left is definitely more favored. interesting.

not sure if i mentioned this in a past blog, but she also enjoys spinning around in circles and making herself dizzy. she's like her mother, a daredevil with an iron stomach. definitely not like her father ;)

we got her a pink soccer ball for Christmas and she loves it. we took it to the park yesterday and she was trying ever so hard to take it with her up the jungle jim and down the slide. she knows to kick it too. very coordinated.

she's very loving and sweet. she even hugs the big iron duck that sits on the playground. she knows that it represents something living. she reaches for the picture of jaelyn on the tree, kisses it and carries it around. she adores her dad, and when he gets home from work she eagerly grabs his legs for some hugs. we love her and can't imagine anything better.

:our garden:

2007-12-24T15:40:00.000-08:00

'tis a very humble thing, our garden.

really, it's not a thing at all. i planted japanese eggplant, which yielded two small fruit. we never actually ate them so i don't know if they were good. we have a few grasses which seem to be great, and a small jade plant. that's it. i've attempted, and failed, at keeping colorful or eatible plants alive.

so, we planted. maybe chloe's magic touch will lend my brown thumb some help. we planted onions. i know, not the time to be planting, but we did. it's warm here, and maybe something will come of it. either way, it was a nice time to spend on our back deck that we neglect so much. jared played photog for all of these:

a frolic on our bed.

:ca ca poo poo:

2007-12-22T11:51:00.000-08:00

today is a monumental one.

while chloe and i enjoyed a saturday morning full of food network, i began to smell a stinky. whenever i see her poop, or smell something, i ask her, "tienes ca ca?", meaning do you have poop. she usually gives me a silly look and ensues with the scrunched up nose.

but this time, this time she promptly got up, walked to the guest bathroom door (which we keep closed) and began knocking on it. i opened the door and she walked straight to the toilet, waiting for me to put her on it. hallelujah!

granted, this isn't all on her own. for the past couple weeks when she poops, i put her on the toilet and say "ca ca poo poo", just so she associates poop with toilet. i never expected it to work this quickly. but it did.

i hope to actually get her pooping in the toilet soon. that would be amazing.

oh yeah...she's starting to say "mom".

:15 & counting:

2007-12-16T13:17:00.000-08:00

now that many of you may have received our Christmas card, i'll post it here for those that maybe haven't seen it:

chloe is well.
moving.everywhere.

she's currently obsessed with this little ice cream set. it's just plastic bowls, spoons and ice cream mounds, but she spends a lot of time talking to herself as she pretends to eat with the spoon. very curious.

she continues to enjoy reading. animals are still her favorite.

she now likes to hold hands, too. when we're walking on the sidewalk, she'll actually reach up to hold our hand. it's still one of the best feelings in the world.

being the big girl that she is now (just turned 15 months), she often eats at the same time and the same things as us. this is both good and challenging. good, since i don't have to spend as much time making food just for her. hard because it's a mess. the other night i made meatballs and pasta and gave her a bowl. she didn't throw it, but you can imagine the mess. she did enjoy it, though.

she can now identify her nose, bellybutton and sometimes eyes, in spanish! she seems to understand both spanish and english phrases like, "vamos" (let's go), "quieres snack" (you want a snack) or "donde esta" (where is...). if i start to say donde esta, she immediately points to somewhere on her face, trying to show me where a certain body part is.

she totally loves to watch the wii. i'm not sure what to think about that. i guess it's probably better than watching some trash on tv. we don't play that much, but she loves the high pitched sounds and mii characters.

chloe went to the zoo on thursday with jared and his friend bobby. lots of photos.

i know it's sideways, but it's cute and i didn't have time to adjust it.

:the real deal meal:

2007-12-05T19:51:00.000-08:00

a real meal: pita with homemade hummus, pan fried potatoes, moroccan spiced chicken and mashed sweet potatoes.

it may not seem like much, but for her to eat off of her OWN plate, an entire meal, is a giant step for schauermann kind.

:ants on a log:

2007-12-04T08:35:00.001-08:00

my mom used to make us ants on a log, or celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins. delicious.

i tried it with chloe. she likes it, but eventually just wanted to get down to business with the celery stalk. i obliged.

:the juggling act:

2007-12-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

here's jared juggling jaelyn, chloe & the phone. jaelyn is chloe's first friend. she's 7 months old and as you can see, cute as a button.

and then there's me attempting to hang Christmas lights...and failing.

2007-11-25T13:44:00.001-08:00

that's our little person:

thanks for the photo, dad.

:thanksgiving:

2007-11-23T09:43:00.000-08:00

i'm a bad mom. i haven't posted in awhile, and i didn't get any photos on thanksgiving. i did bring the camera. somehow, in the midst of my calm (jared volunteered to be "in charge" of chloe) i forgot.

anyway, chloe is a mover and shaker. she never sits still. she's a great kid, smart, funny and loving, but she'll keep you going as long as you'll let her.

she loves doing things like walk from the car to the front door, all by her big self, put her princess crown on and walk around, attempt to navigate the dvd player (which is miraculously still functioning), read any books with animals in them and still loves rachel ray.

she can identify where her belly button is, and where mine is and she's starting to figure out the eyes. she has a few words that we can actually make out. she can say "dad", or "da", "hot", "off" and dog, or "daaa". she's also very adept at letting us know when she's thirsty.

she continues to be an eater, although she is a carb loader. if there's bread within her line of vision, nothing else matters. doesn't really matter what kind, she just loves it.

she's also really started to show signs of emotion and love. she'll grab her favorite books off the shelf and bring them to us to read while she sits in our laps. she very excitedly greets us when we return from work, with open arms and a hug. with jared she screams, "daaaaaaa!" but i think my favorite is how she puts her hand out for me to hold it while we walk into the house. it only lasts for about 5-10 seconds, but she is clearly asking to have her hand held.

thanksgiving was spent with the hoover's (as was last year). the schauermanns cooked, hoovers hosted. good food, games, crisp air, family and a break for me! all in all, a good time.

missed my family, and thought about my sister in africa. can't wait to see her in december! if you're reading this kates, we love you! and chloe misses her aunt katie :)

hope you all had a blessed holiday.

xoxo

:things in things:

2007-11-06T08:36:00.000-08:00

chloe is smart.

maybe she's average...i don't know. but to us, she's amazing.

yesterday she was playing in our closet, a walk-in, which she occasionally likes to treat like her little house and close the door. i was still in bed, trying to get up, when she comes walking out with 3 green shirts from jared's drawer. now, because i do a lot of laundry, i know that they weren't just sitting on top. she had to have dug for those 3 shirts. honestly, i didn't even know he owned 3, nearly identically green shirts!

this morning the smartness continued. i folded laundry and was taking it back to the room in shifts. she decided to help expedite the process by bringing me some socks from the basket. very helpful.

then, as i was cleaning bathrooms, changing trash, etc., she started pulling the tp roll. not good. i stopped her while she only had a little bit of it. she walked over to the little bathroom trash, opened the lid, and put in a scrap of toilet paper. so smart!

i don't know what i did to breed such intelligence, and such a great work ethic in my nearly 14 month old, but God bless her. i can only pray that she'll be this dilligent when she's 14.

some shots my dad took last saturday at great gma ana's:

:you asked for it...:

2007-11-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

...so here she is...the Chicken:

and then there was charlie, erin and travis' bulldog, the hot dog:

but this one takes the cake. there really isn't anything more to be said:

2007-10-12T16:50:00.000-07:00

need we say more?

:the dry season:

2007-10-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

it's been dry. and much to our dismay, the excema is coming back...this time on the legs. poor kid.

she's smart as a whip. she does things that truly make us stop and go, 'oh my gosh!'

what's really funny (but not really funny), is when she knows she's not supposed to do something, or touch something so she'll put something else NEAR that "no-no" item pretending that she's going for the ok item. of course, she'll then do a quick grab for the no-no item.

she loves to have shoes or socks put on her feet. when she sees me pull out the shoes, she'll come over, sit down and put her foot up. so cute.

she really likes to sit in/on things: cabinets, stools, chairs, boxes. we brought her rocking chair out while wheel of fortune was on. she gets in, then gets out. and repeats that many times. until...she decides it's fun to stand on the chair. that quickly ended.

tonight we went out to jack's bbq in hillcrest to celebrate jared's good review at work. the sunlight caught chloe just right.

:ho hum:

2007-10-06T22:17:00.001-07:00

apparently herman melville wasn't chloe's cup-o-tea...

photo by jared

:these days:

2007-10-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

getting out a lot more...it's nice.

and this photo encapsulates chloe:

this photo was from our short trip to coronado for some happy hour pizza, as you can see by the checkered tablecloth. we wanted to get some shots at sunset, but some windiness set in, and it was a bit cold and cloudy (FINALLY!) to be out near the water. another day...

chloe has this crown that came on her birthday cake from gramma ana, which she has taken quite a liking to. she has figured out that it goes on her head, but not how to make it stay there. when she gets frustrated that she can't make it stay, she comes up to us making the "eh eh eh eh" sound, which is her word for anything when she wants it, and we put it on her. she smiles and we tell her how pretty she is. it's pretty darn cute. the photo isn't loading, so we'll have to post it later.

she also enjoys being upside down, like this:

and finally, another photo from out trip to julian with emily. here they are looking at some curious little holes in the side of a rock:

other than that, chloe continues to enjoy putting things back where they belong, whether it's her blocks in a box, food into my hand that she doesn't want, kitchen items or a block in the toilet. she knows that things go IN things. it's a good start i suppose...

:photo update:

2007-09-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

some old, some new.

chloe chillin' in her old toy box.

kickin' back in the hall cabinet.

a morning at the san diego zoo with the goodmanson's.

a day in julian with aunt emily.

:life with a one year old:

2007-09-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

if you have a kid(s), you know where we're at. cute, cuddly, chattering terror. not terror in a bad way, just in the sense that everything is new and exciting...meaning, it's all fair game to open, eat, try on, grab, etc. people have been telling me since she was born that i would miss the early days once she started walking. honestly, i haven't. it's tiring to chase her, but there is so much more that goes along with it. and she sleeps better and entertains herself. i wouldn't want to go back to her infancy for anything.

she loves jared. since i am working part time, she and jared have had many an afternoon to play, walk and get to know each other. now, she often prefers him over me as far as snuggling. when he gets home, she wants to be held by daddy. i love it.

she still loves the phone. she has amassed a collection of cell phones, some real (but no longer in service) and a couple play ones. needless to say, if she can get her hands on it, mine is still the favorite. it's literally hanging by a thread. the top part falls off if held carelessly.

today she did something that surprised me. she was digging in the kitchen drawers which i had just rearranged to keep her from the scissors. she was pulling out baggies and plastic wrap, etc., and after she pulled it all out, she actually put some of it back and closed the drawer. i couldn't believe it. the fact that she's realizing certain things belong here or there, and then replacing it seems quite smart! some adults can't even get that straight.

of course, she climbs. i have yet to witness much of this, but jared has. he found her standing on her box of blocks and then also climbing up an end table which is shaped like steps. she's clearly yearning for steps, which she loves to climb given the opportunity. our nice furniture will not become her step stool. sorry chlo.

i suppose the biggest chage for chloe is that she got her ears pierced last week. she was a champ. unfortunately, they grabbed 2 different size studs so they look a bit lop-sided. not much we can do now. no one has called her a boy since.

she is now a little over 21 pounds and is 28 inches. while she was huge at 5 months, she's now actually on the smaller side, but still perfectly healthy. the nurse practioner, who saw chloe the day after she was born in the hospital, continues to praise us for our good care with chloe and for continuing the breast feeding. i think she likes us.

i think that's about it here in the schauermann household. same 'ol stuff.

and if you're in the sd area, and you hear of a kid with chicken pox, let us know ;)

:the one:

2007-09-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

it is finished. the drama and beauty of little chloe's 1st has come to a close in the complete quiet of this saturday night couch.

it's been a whirlwind couple days capped off by chloe's great behaviour. it seemed as all was working out beautifully, effortlessly...until 9am this morning.

we drove down the street to the park to drop off stuff and reserve a table. as we approached, i noticed that the street was particularly crowded, something unusual for this 'hood. then, we entered the park. people were just running everywhere. there were giant buses, tape, tents, music and thousands of people. what the hek?!

apparently, there was some regional cross country event going on all day, and ending at 3, the same time our party was to begin. needless to say, there were no tables, or even grass available. as we later found out, the grass WAS the track. insanity. we weren't sure what to do, but jared went and asked questions and we decided that we'd return around noon to see if we could snag a table and make sure we had a space. we couldn't change locations at 10 am on her birthday.

long story short, the day got progressively more stressful until about 4pm, when the meet finally ended, and all the groups left. then, it was peachy and perfect. chloe charmed everyone, ate cake, sort of, and was walking everywhere. she was a delight, and sure to sleep. but she just awoke after and hour of being asleep. what the hek?

there's a lot to recount, but we truly must thank all of those that came, helped us out, gave gifts and brought delicious food. we truly enjoyed all the company.

blessings.

:!:

2007-08-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

here she is in all her walking glory:

and with some teeth:

:the crazy things she does:

2007-08-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

this week has been another of firsts, although, not really the firsts that we typically think of.

it started as a normal week- shopping, playing, taking walks, etc.

monday we attended a silent laurel and hardy movie at the balboa park organ pavilion with our community group. chloe had some trouble seeing so she tried on my glasses:

then, apparently chloe wanted to experience, again, her birth, but in a different fashion. so, she did this:

i know the picture is bad. it was blurry and i tried to touch it up, but you get the idea. how she got there, we don't know. we were watching tv one minute, and the next, we turn around to find her tunneling into the pouch under the stroller. but, like everything she does, once is simply not enough. she attempted to go back. we decided it wasn't in her best interest to reenact her birth via stroller.

but, i think the highlight of the week had to be the poop incident. chloe still wears her cloth diapers, but has now figured out how to take it off. when i put her down for a nap last week, i forgot about this and let her sleep. she woke up early, cried for awhile, and started to go back to sleep. but she still seemed fussy. finally, i figured i'd better check on her. i opened the door and there was my precious sitting in her crib, surrounded by little balls of poop and with poop smashed between her fingers. i, of course, was mortified and worried. i felt horrible for forgetting to put pants on her. i freaked and just picked her up, while she's screaming, and put her in the bath, shirt and all. she kept trying to put her fingers in her mouth while i was trying to clean her without getting poo on myself. eventually, we got the situation under control. unfortunately for jared, i hadn't the chance to clean up the crib before he got home, and he ended up with that job. sorry :( i worried that she may have eaten poop and would get sick, but she didn't. let's just say i'll be more careful.

on with the week...

saturday we got our new couch delivered from ikea, and chloe was insistent on helping jared put it together...so she did:

we love the couch; especially jared. we never fell asleep on our other one. yesterday, we peacefully slept for a whole 15 minutes.

to wrap up the week, chloe got cozy with dad. it was a good way to end a sometimes turbulent week of firsts. but she survived.

it'll be interesting to see what this week holds...

:walking!:

2007-08-20T13:10:00.000-07:00

no photos yet, but chloe is starting to walk! of course, i was working when she was doing the bulk of it, but jared was quick to text me and tell me that she was doing it!

it's not constant, but every once and a while she gets brave enough to try out the sea legs. hopefully we'll be able to catch her the next time.

cheers!

:the cold:

2007-08-17T09:16:00.000-07:00

this comes at a very appropriate time, as chloe has, unfortunately, caught my cold.

last night she awoke 3 times with a slight cough and probably general discomfort. it's so hard not knowing what is bothering her.

alas, she still must be attended to. surely, there are plenty of o.t.c. things we can buy, most not too suitable for babies under 2, but still commonly used. that is what the article is about.

i know that i talk much about natural alternatives, but there is truth in it. we have to be more cautious about how we treat our kids. we have to read, do research listen. we can't just pop a pill or a dropper in their mouth and expect harmless results, if results at all.

so, i went on a quest to try and relieve her symptoms. she's too young for echanacea, which is my personal remedy. i used some saline drops for her nose and a suction bulb, which works great for temporary booger relief.

i decided to try a little experiment in a bottle of a few ounces of warm water steeped with some mint tea and some raw garlic. i added a bit of agave nectar so she would swallow it, and lo and behold, she loved it. i think it helped her throat because she hasn't been coughing since.

she looks a mess. last night she slipped on a rug and hit her right cheek on the table. she awoke with a purple line across her cheek. she has boogers coming out of her nose, her eyes are puffy and she's generally tired. but, you'd never know by her chipper attitude. she's not too fussy, playing and smiling and eating like normal.

hopefully this will pass soon.

:11 month old chicken:

2007-08-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

hard to believe...she's nearly one year.

i've been sick today and chloe has been my companion...although, i can't say that she makes a good nurse. we'll have to work on that.

anyway, here she is sleeping and doing her jungle jim routine. she really likes to crawl over and in things that seem impossible. here, it's the kitchen table chairs. go figure!

:grand canyon:

2007-08-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

we're back...from our grand canyon, so. utah trip!

tired and beat, but safely home. chloe was better than expected and cute as ever. i discovered that she now has 5 teeth coming in. crazy.

tonight, she took her first steps with me. barely holding my fingers, we walked around the living room. she also used the laundry basket as a cart and pushed it around. she's so close.

anyway, here's a load of photos...more to come :)

:what's up?:

2007-08-06T15:44:00.000-07:00

no photos today, but a little update. sorry we haven't been updating as much.

she's almost 11 months and so close to walking.

as you parents know, it's a process of first pulling up, then walking along the crib, then walking along with one hand, etc. she's at the one handed point, and able to stand from a sitting position, without holding onto anything. last night she started a new thing. it's what i'd call the downward dog walk. if you know yoga, you're familiar with downward dog, in which you place your hands and feet on the ground in the shape of an upside down V. now imagine walking. she refuses to take our hands and walk. very stubborn and independent already!

she is also getting 4 teeth at once. three on the bottom and one on the top. it's made for continued fussiness and neediness for me. but, i am also learning she loves her snacks. and if she gets a snack before her nap, she's a much happier baby when she awakes. snacks mainly consist of tofu, just because it's an easy cleanup and a good source of meatless protein. and no sugar! she eats anything. basically, i just mix about 4 different things, all different vitamins and feed her. example: kale, apricot, carrot, and plain yogurt. disgusting. but oh so good to her.

this week we are heading to vegas and then going on a roadtrip to the grand canyon with my parents. just a 2 night jaunt, but a much needed break for us. although, i was thinking about how it's not really a total vacation because we have chloe, which is work. but good work. we're hoping to steal some alone time at some point on the trip.

our enjoyment of chloe over these past 11 months has just grown so much. it helps that she sleeps at night, too. but watching her copy things, like holding her pretend mobile phone up to her ear and saying, "hoe", is so fun. she's so inquisitive and smart. everyone comments on her eyes and how they penetrate everything and everyone. nothing gets by her. we are so looking forward to the years to come, joys and sorrows, bumps, jumps, boys, etc. so much to take in.

shalom.

:teeth:

2007-08-02T21:05:00.000-07:00

cutting 4 teeth=irritability=chaos.

we're ready for our vacation next week. hopefully chloe will be, too.

balboa park train ride- 27 july

balboa park fountain

chloe+yoga= chloga...chloe attempting to emulate the yoga poses on the yoga flashcards

waiting for daddy in the hallway

:number one:

2007-07-31T16:57:00.000-07:00

hard to believe, but in a mere month and a half, chloe will be turning one. i know it's a little early, but i figured i'd put up the invite to let everyone know! all are welcome!

ciao.

:uh oh:

2007-07-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

it finally happened...

i guess it's one of those things that all parents have to experience at least once. it's kinda cute, in a weird way. at least it wasn't one of those cow patty ones.

chloe and i took a sort of last minute getaway to vegas to see the family. good, relaxing times. here's chloe and grandpa tip hanging out.

:the throwdown:

2007-07-20T17:02:00.001-07:00

as you parents know, there comes a time in every child's life where anything within reach is throwdown material-meaning, they can pick it up and most likely drop it. case in point, our bookshelves. chloe finally found it and figured out that these lovely little bounded papers can become throwing toys. one by one, she throws every book off of the shelf she can reach, while standing, and then proceeds to choose the one she likes best (always the U.S. Constitution, which is very small) and then starts crawling with it.

so, here are some photos from her book encounters.

:poop and cookbooks:

2007-07-17T15:01:00.001-07:00

it seems to be chloe's pooping routine, to do it in her jumparoo. there isn't really a specific time of day that it happens, but more often than not, it is in that thing. maybe it's the gravity from standing pulling it down or something. i don't know.

also, while making cauliflower soup and chloe's various purees, i got an idea that i never thought about before, and want opinions/ideas.

since i was a kid, my mom has always told me that i should be a chef or have a restaurant. while the dream of having my own restaurant died with the discovery of my love for photography, i continue to love to cook. she said i loved to mix since i was very small.

as you know, i also enjoy writing.

so, what about a cookbook? i didn't really formulate a theme for it, which i know would be important, but that could be where you come in.

why am i talking about it here? because i would want it to be a cookbook for moms cooking for their kids (toddler on up), wanting CREATIVE, INNOVATIVE, ORGANIC dishes, but not necessarily fancy and difficult.

i checked out books on amazon and there wasn't really much that would fit in that genre. i found one which was for organic cooking from infant to toddler, but that was it. most of it was quick fix meals for soccer moms. literally, i saw two books with the words "soccer mom" in the title. yikes! that's not me.

so, i'm looking for input. how would i do this? where do i start? would people even buy something like this? i have no formal training so how do i convince someone that i'm a credible source for food information?

that's all.

:weekly update:

2007-07-13T11:59:00.000-07:00

i know i know...we've been negligent in writing. i guess as time goes on, it's difficult to be updating everyday.

so, what's new with chloe?

she does peek-a-boo.

she is nearly standing on her own.

she claps, sometimes while standing up.

she's been waking up at 5am for some reason.

she will be 10 months old(!) on sunday.

i'm trying to think over the past week for any other morsels of information, but i think that sums it up.

my mom came out monday-wednesday for a spur of the moment visit. of course, chloe was a huge fuss while she was here, and only while she was here. she had to sleep in our room for those 2 nights, and we were really happy to let chloe have her own room back. she continues to awake early, though. i'm investigating why.

she loves to move around. so much so, that she sometimes gets herself out of breath. as you'll see in the photos below, she enjoys a few key things: climbing under things, crawling with toys in her hands (she never crawls without one, or two!) and going into the guest bathroom. the latter i haven't figured out. if we do let her crawl in the living room, she defaults to the bathroom everytime. i decided to let her go with it, and of course, she tried to climb up the toilet, toys in hand. i had to take her away from the toilet.

she doesn't have any sort of specific toy as a security "blanket", but she is very insistent on crawling with A toy, which i see has her version of security, or simply challenging herself. i don't know. she cracks us up.

yesterday she started doing a pull-up in the pack-n-play, trying to lift her leg up to climb out. she actually got pretty far. future rock climber?? maybe. she's extremely determined, hardy and slow to cry if she falls down. i don't know if it's a matter of high pain tolerance or pride, or simply not caring. she just goes for it all.

jared had to start disciplining her with a little hand slap. not fun. but, she listens. she no longer goes near the plug and cord in her room. so smart.

as chloe quickly approaches her FIRST birthday, we are starting to think out how it will all go. here's the deal, just so anyone who wants to come (all are welcome) can plan for it...we will be having a modest little party in the park down the street from our house, potluck style, on saturday, 15 september. bring sunscreen, blankets, beach chairs, baseball mitts, footballs, whatever you like to do at the park, and enjoy the so cal weather! i will be taking care of the cake, so please don't bring a cake! chloe said she wants a special (healthier) cake made by mommy :)

anyway, any questions about that, just email me. i know it's a couple months away, but things like this creep up quickly!

hope you are all enjoying a wonderful summer!

ciao. shalom.

:4th and things:

2007-07-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

so, we've been busy.

mondays we go to community group. thursdays we meet with a couple families from church. sunday we go to church. and in between we do our walks, shopping, laundry, try to have dates and whatever else life throws at us.

this week was especially busy with the 4th. we had a big 'ol gathering for our community group at our place. great fun. lots 'o food. walked to the park and watched fireworks with the rest of north park. really nice. hopefully we'll have some photos sent to us from the night. i didn't get any cause i was so busy hosting. bad me.

my dad came up the morning of the 4th and spent some time peeling grapes for chloe and caught this great photo, which i put in sepia.

chloe now has a half of a tooth, and its partner beginning to poke through on the bottom. it's a bit hard to see unless she gives a big smile, but i'll try to get a photo.

hope you are all well!

peace.

:girls' night:

2007-06-28T21:59:00.001-07:00

jared was working tonight, so we took a photo...

:swimming...again:

2007-06-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

chloe took another stab at swimming today. thanks to tio ryan and tia megan's slightly heated pool, it was a success. sort of. she didn't cry...oh no. she started to fall asleep! she missed her naps and was cranky and poopy. but she got very relaxed as i carried her around the pool. eventually, she fell asleep in her new, yet downgraded version of a stroller we bought for $11. it's the travel stroller.

anyway, just another nice day in san diego :)

ciao.

jared took these 2...i edited them

ps- my phone is working so thanks to all the lovely people who offered up their extra mobiles!

:phone:

2007-06-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

one more thing. chloe kinda played with my phone too much, and it broke. so, if you need to get ahold of me, please email to: ableknife@hotmail.com.

i check it often throughout the day. you can also try calling jared's phone at night.

oops.

ps- if anyone has an old cell phone laying around that they can part with, let me know. thanks.

:lovely day:

2007-06-21T19:53:00.000-07:00

i think today was one of the best in awhile...besides last thursday. our days off have been very rewarding.

today we met up with the vivona's, from our church, for a morning of picking strawberries and enjoying the PERFECT carlsbad weather at the u-pick farm. i'll let the photos speak for themselves. it was a very enriching and feel-good time.

before our day up north, we walked to have breakfast and see uncle ralphie at the mission. blueberry cornmeal pancakes...yum!

needless to say, chloe was a gem today, charming us all.

it was a great way to spend the first day of summer.

:talk talk:

2007-06-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

this past week has been chloe's week of talking. although she doesn't really know what she's saying, or understand its relevance to anything else, she now has a vocabulary of "da-da-da", "ba-ba-ba", and the occasional "pa-pa". she reserves the "ma" sounds for her cries. go figure.

she has also perfected her wave. today, she finally did a real, distinguishable wave, copying us as we tried to say bye bye. it's more like "come here" motion with her fingers, but her version, and oh so cute.

2007-06-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

forgot to post this photo the other day. she falls asleep after her midmorning feeding quite often. this time, she did it halfway off the boppy.

2007-06-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

our first fathers' and mothers' days have come and gone. we are blessed.

i love to watch jared really enjoying his daughter. she's warmed up to him a lot, which makes us all feel good. she loves to climb on daddy in the morning when we're all in bed. he does these chloe presses that she loves. and he's started feeding her more.

being a parent is so much better (i'm assuming) when you have a willing, supportive partner. i am thankful for that.

father's day was very nice. went to church for the first time in weeks. had bj's for lunch. played catch at the park, thanks to the graciousness of the nice man who gave us a baseball for free from his shop (jared went and paid him back yesterday). had a bbq with jared n., rhian and jaelyn (see photo below). went to bed full and ready for another week. i suppose that's all you can ask for.

life is good.

below are some photos jared took with my nikon on our south park walk last week. if you couldn't tell, they're film. love the film...richer colors, sharper edges, no weird square pixels. so beautiful, i didn't have to edit a thing.

jared and baby jaelyn marie (8 weeks) on father's day.

:twins from another era:

2007-06-16T21:06:00.001-07:00

i don't know.

:hats off & thumbs up!:

2007-06-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

yeah! bbq!

happy FIRST father's day!

:9 months:

2007-06-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

cannot believe our chloe is 9 months!

couldn't be prouder.

here's some photos to commemorate her day.

and one from the other day...standing tall!

:marathon photos:

2007-06-12T12:16:00.001-07:00

hey all...

just in case you wanted to see what the marathon was like, go here for the professional photos. you can order them, if you feel so inclined, but mainly i just wanted to share a bit of the experience.

thanks for all the support, again!

:a week of firsts:

2007-06-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

when our child was born, we'd sit there and marvel at how she'd ever crawl or walk or talk. she seems so fragile and helpless. and then she starts to do small things, and we begin to get anxious about when those things will begin. and then, all of a sudden, they happen.

this week, while jared's family was in town, she charged forth with her whole bag of tricks. on wednesday, she started crawling, and never turned back. about the same time, she began her new hand gesture, pictured below. we like to call it the, "what, me?"

this gesture is basically used around the clock, but almost always at the appropriate times. if someone asks a question, she puts her hand up. if someone walks in the room, she puts her hand up. it's very cute, and smart i might add.

she also is cutting a tooth. you can barely feel the top of it, but it's there. thankfully for us, and our neighbors, she doesn't seem to be horribly bothered yet. she's sleeping through the night fairly well and seems very happy.

she also took her first dip in a swimming pool. pretty cute stuff. unfortunately, the water was a bit cool and her time in the pool was quite short, but man is she cute.

and, to top off her week of firsts, she went to her first baseball game, appropriately played between the mariners (jared's team) and the padres. but not only was it a game, it was a game viewed from the posh suite that tio ryan so generously shared with us. he was able to secure seats there through his company. it was the best way to take a baby to the game...couches, soft chairs, food, private bathroom, blankets, prime view of the field and without all the fuss of trying to keep a kid seated for 3 hours straight! she was great, and everyone loved her. she cheered with everyone, took a walk with grandma around the park and saw her mariner's to a 6-5 victory. good times

tio travis and chloe

the whole family

it's been a really nice, relaxing week. we're thankful for all the family that has been here to help and to shower chloe with love. it truly makes a difference.

:ahhhh:

2007-06-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

well, before anything else, i must say thank you for the prayers regarding the marathon. this past weekend i completed it, albeit a bit slow. i still squeezed it in before the 7 hour limit, though. and no, i never want to do one again. i did it, i feel satisfied and that's the end of that! all in all, though, an amazing, rewarding and enlightening experience for all.

sorry for the slow down in posts. just not a lot of time or content, i guess.

chloe has had some developments. obviously she is standing in her crib, crawling up on whatever we allow her to. she also says "uh-oh". i wouldn't really classify it as a first word, but she is clearly mimicing us. it's exciting. and just today, finally, her bottom gum cracked with the emergence of the very tip of a tooth.

she continues to be the sweetest thing in the world, simply by being "chloe".

:the blessings & well, the realizations of fear:

2007-05-25T03:14:00.000-07:00

this has been an amazing week of firsts for chlo.

she started off with her hand raises when we say, "way up high!" this was actually taught to her a couple weeks ago by tia erin, but really came full circle this week.

then she started copying us when we'd shake our heads back and forth making weird sounds. surely, we thought, this is the cutest thing so far.

then she pulled out the clap from her newly refined baby repotoire. jared finally got her to do the infamous, soundless baby clap. for now it is the cutest thing.

and just as we were easing into the schedule, sleeping better and being more content, she learned to stand up in the crib. while cute, this skill carries along with it a double-edged sword. 2 days ago she was balls out, jumping, moving sideways, trying new stuff, taking a couple harmless tumbles to the mattress. yesterday, though, she learned fear. maybe she got a liitle bump on one of her falls; or maybe she simply realized that she didn't enjoy being out of control and falling. the latter is our assumption, which opens up a whole new realm for a child.

now, she will play, but if she is standing and wants to go down, she freaks because she knows the only way down is a tumble. tonight (the reason i'm up at 3am) she awoke crying and we figured it was just her normal thing. after a few minutes jared asked if she could be up. i thought no since it's dark; but sure enough, there she was, up on her little feet, desperate in the dark and needing help.

we still get some sleep, and i know the newness of it all will taper off, but for now we must embrace this new phase and love her through it.

God knows, we all need a little help sometimes.

shalom.

:up up & away:

2007-05-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

i guess this marks the start of a new phase.

today chloe pulled herself up in her crib. thankfully it was with me in the room. actually, it was a test. i put her in there to play for a minute while i got ready, but realized (per previous behaviour that showed her ability) i'd better make sure she's not going to grab the rails. i've been telling jared we have to move the crib down before i hear a thump in the middle of the night. sure enough, as she looked right at me, she got up. and not only did she get up, she started traversing the crib, not upwards but across. clearly she's more coordinated than we originally thought.

when i went in an hour ago to put her down for a nap, i figured i'd wait until jared was with me to change the whole crib around. but i couldn't. she's smart; and now that she knows she can pull herself up, she'll likely do it again very soon. so i took 10 minutes to lower it and put new sheets on. she can still get up, but at least she can't get over the side.

anyway, here's a couple photos from her journey to the top.

shalom.

:8 months:

2007-05-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

we forgot to commemorate the day, so here are a couple photos we took last night, chloe's 8 month birthday, along with one of myself at 8 months.

shalom.

:the photos:

2007-05-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

here are some of the photos from this past weekend. jared took the ones on the plane. enjoy...

oh yeah...chloe has worn through all her pajama feet from being in the jumparoo...silly girl.

:good times:

2007-05-14T09:58:00.000-07:00

we are happy to report that chloe was superb this weekend! i guess the decision to just take it in stride worked. the plane ride up couldn't have been better. not a peep out of her. of course, it helped that she charmed everyone around her. they immediately felt love towards her instead of frustration.

she also slept through the night, which was a surprise considering she was just in the pack and play in the closet. i guess she was revisiting her early days on hotel circle. i think she must have been spoiled with all the new fandangled toys that grandma had ready. definintely a treat for chloe.

she charmed everyone at the wedding, neighbors, random people walking by. she's a stunner...what can we say?

anyway, we had a great 4 days away, reconnecting as a family, as husband and wife, but are so glad to return to beautiful san diego.

there will be some photos to follow, lots.

pray for my ankle. i had a minor slip up and am hoping it doesn't effect the marathon.

:out:

2007-05-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

we're out for 4 days to washington for a wedding...

happy mother's day!