Remembering...

Ben and Molly have a tradition of going to see Rachel's grave whenever we go to Colorado, it seems to be especially Molly's tradition.

Denver Aquarium

We went to the Denver Aquarium on Monday Feb 22 during our family's little trip to Denver this time. We wanted to do something to make our trip seem like a vacation. Ben and Molly had been there before but Ben was 3 and can't remember, and Molly was around 3 days old....not too sure she remembers either. Rob says they've made a lot of changes since then. We had a really great time!

First we went in the Shark Tank....a bit scary, but we survived. :D (Rob held Chloe up there and she, obviously, wasn't too thrilled...I had to snap a split-second shot, cuz that's about how long she was in there.) :P

Then we moved on to some fish and otter exhibits. The otters were MIA so we went back again at the end and were able to see them.We got to watch some divers cleaning one of the tanks, that was really cool. We didn't think they could see us at first, but then one of them posed for a pic with Molly and Ben. :)Looking at sting rays and skates

Checking out the tunnel

Chloe had a great time!! :)We got to pet the sting rays? (I think that's what they were...)

And then we bought some fish to feed them.

That was really cool!!!Feeding the Sting Rays (I think) :P

Looking at the otters on our second trip around...Chloe's first otter siting Molly and Ben about to be drowned in a flash flood.

We also got to watch them feed the sharks, which was really neat too!
(But the pics weren't) :)

Family Party

While we were in CO Rob's whole family got together at his brother, Wayne's, house. We had a potluck, watched the annual family slide show, and talked while the kids ransacked the house. :P Chloe meeting Uncle Wayne
Grandpa cuddling with Chloe's new blanket

A Miracle....in My Eyes

Last night, at about 9:30 p.m. I fed my little sweet pea. She spit up about half of it and soaked a few burp cloths. I changed her diaper and clothes, swaddled her up, and then handed her off to Rob. He rocked her to sleep and held her for an hour or so until about 11:30 p.m. I packed lunches and then worked on turning useless swaddling blankets into more burp cloths until midnight. I had a snack and pumped around 1 a.m. (because Chloe hadn't woken up to relieve my fullness). :P

Then the next thing I knew Rob was waking me up around 7:30 a.m. asking if Chloe was hungry. She was laying in her bassinet just making smacking sounds. That little girl hadn't eaten in 10 HOURS and she wasn't even complaining about it!!! She was simply laying by herself, smacking her lips, and wishing her mom would wake up and feed her!



What an amazing girl....her first full nights sleep and she does it with a bang!! No measly 6 or 7 hour sleep for her....she goes for 10 big ones!!



When she finally got to eat around 7:30, which, by the way, was a very guzzling affair, at one point I adjusted my position a bit in the bed, so Chloe detached and looked up at me with wide eyes but simply looked back down and went right back to her hasty breakfast.



I tried to get a smiley pic after she'd eaten, to document this momentous occasion, but all she would do was stare wide eyed at Rob and I with an expression that seemed to say, "what are you two lookin' at?" .....Until I put the camera down that is, then she broke out the smiles...of course.
....maybe the "I love mommy bib" was the key to this miraculous event.... lol

Chloe's Blanket

Chloe's Aunt Peggy is an amazing knitter and has made Chloe some very sweet gifts.

The most recent is a blanket. It's made of cotton and it's just beautiful!!! We've gotten SO MANY compliments on it.

Thanks Aunt Peggy!!

Rhea and Sophie's Strawberry Shortcake Tea Party

Molly, Chloe, Grandma Paula and I were invited to a birthday party for their cousins Rhea and Sophie so we packed up and took Chloe to Colorado for her first road trip.

The first day we hung out with Chris and Serin and fam and did some shopping at the Mills.

The next day was the birthday party....

Daddy gettin' Chloe ready for the big partyMolly with her darling tea party gloves

Molly and Sophie enjoying Sophie's birthday gifts




3 cousins

It was quite an amazing party, as Aunt Nanny's parties always are!

Chloe on 16 Feb 2010

Chloe waking up...

My sleepy little papoose....

Just chillin'....

Funny things about Chloe...

She loves to look at our ceiling fan. Rob and I entertain her by turning the fan and the light on and off. In fact, she loves the fan so much that sometimes the fan receives more smiles than we do!! :)

She started looking from right to left and back again in rapid succession...so fast that her eyes don't have a chance to focus on anything and she may not only get that wrap around bald spot on the back of her head, but also a friction burn! :P

(I wrote this back on 17 Feb 2010....and haven't been blogging since) :P

I Just Adore All The Cute Things She Does

...just can't get enough of that little girl!!! :)

(More junky phone pics from before the new camera)

Molly's Big Day

We took Molly to get her ears pierced today, she's been waiting a long time for this. I promised her before her last birthday (2009) that we'd take her to get her ears pierced when she could show us that she was sufficiently non-sassy/respectful (specifically to parents/teachers/grandmas and grandpas).

We decided this month that she'd met the requirements we had set out for her so we promised that Presidents' Day was THE DAY. :)

On the way there we warned her that it was going to hurt a bit. She wanted me to show her how much. lol I told her she was just going to have to wait and see. She said she'd be brave.

We went to my brother-in-law's (Cassidy) family jewelry shop. Cassidy's dad owns the shop and always does the ear piercing (although they told us if you ask for anything but ear lobes they tell you to go to the piercing pagoda or some place like that) :P and Cassidy is just fine with his dad keeping that job to himself but Molly said she wanted Cassidy to do it. We asked her if she wanted to be his "guinea pig" and she nodded. He told her that he was probably more nervous than she, and still she remained undaunted....she wanted Uncle Cassidy to be the one to pierce her ears.

They had a few different choices of studs for her to pick from:

• gold balls
• round cubic zirconiums....cubic zirconias....fake diamonds :)
• princess cut....fake diamonds
• round pink ones (those fake diamond things I can't spell)
• pearls

She chose the pearls.

She was very brave, she didn't cry until we asked her if it hurt and if she was okay. Then she started crying. :P

She told us that the second ear didn't really hurt.

She really likes looking at them and says she looks really pretty with them on. :)

She had to tell all her grandparents about it today.

(All the previous crappy pictures are courtesy of Rob's iphone (good color ones) and my cheap-o phone (washed out ones)....but guess what, my sweet honey got me a new camera today, and he even took me to two Costco-s so that I could get the pink one...who's the little girl here?) :P

The following pictures are from the new *pink* camera! ;)

She told one of her grandmas tonight on the phone that she can't even tell that the earrings are in now and that sometimes she forgets that her ears are pierced. ;)

I guess it's more of a "Ruby Red"....according to the website.... :)