My Cool Cat :)

My Cool Cat @ Yahoo! Video

The 6th grade at Ben's school did a dance unit with a special guest instructor from the University of Utah Dance Company. They did some fun interpretive dances and chants.

Most of their chanting was unintelligible to me...except for something about the promised land. :P
But it was lots of fun to watch my Cool Cat perform. ;)

5 March 2010

A Nite on the Town!!!

Rob won tickets at work for the 6th playoff game between the Utah Jazz and the Denver Broncos. It was to be the determining of the series. If they won, there would be no 7th game in the series and the Jazz would go on to play the Lakers....does it sound like I'm really into the Jazz since I know all this??? Not so much. ;)

We went, I asked Rob a lot of questions, some he could answer,
some he couldn't. He's not too much of a sports fan either, but he
knows more than I.

It was a really fun night out though. My sister Monica and her husband Cassidy watched our kids for us, so we had a night to just the two of us. I think that's our 2nd since we've had Chloe!! (She's pretty easy-going though so we've taken her on a couple other dates and she just sleeps most of the time). :)

After we dropped off my kids and their junk-food pizza :P at my sister's house, we drove downtown for the game. We got there shortly before the game and went down to the 'sponsor room' for the free meal that came with the tickets (since Rob's credit union sponsors the Jazz). I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the meal! I expected Famous Dave's or something but they had a nice salad, fruit, a bean and sausage soup, a pasta and beef dish, sauteed mushrooms and broccoli and a pork tenderloin. Cheesecake for dessert. We got there right before they were ready to clean up though, so we felt like they were standing around waiting for us to leave and literally grabbing our plates from under us just as we took the last bite of food off of them.

The game itself was pretty fun. It was a close game and there was lots of goings on to watch. I think I spent as much time watching the people in front of us as I did the actual game. :P
There was a super -mega fan a few rows in front of us. He had a "Williams #8" Jazz jersey on. Anytime Williams would score...or do anything noteworthy really...he would stand up and shake his jersey. Anytime the Jazz in general would score, or do anything noteworthy, he would stand up and yell. Anytime there was a foul he would stand up and mimic the ref. Anytime he felt there SHOULD have been a foul, he would stand up and do the "ref-ing" gestures and call a foul. Anytime there was a free throw he'd stand and boo or cheer. Anytime there was a three pointer he'd stand and shout and hold his arms wide with three fingers on each side.... Essentially, he was standing, gesturing, and shouting 94.3% of the time.

When we weren't watching 'Mr. Super-Fan' we watched the people just in front of us who were watching 'Mr. Super-Fan' and laughing and getting a kick out of him too.

And thirdly....and probably mostly....I watched two baby/toddler girls that were down in front of us. (One was more a baby, the other not quite 2 I guess.) They were both dressed in a "Williams #8" jersey/onsie-jumpsuit thing. (Apparently "Williams #8" is hot-stuff...unless we just ended up in the "Williams #8" fan club section). These little girls (each with a different couple) were SO cute and made me think about my little Chloe that I was now missing quite a bit. (It was already strange to be without her!!) The older one had little brown pigtails, which reminded me of Chloe's hair...if it stays dark brown....and well, if it ever grows. ;)

All-in-all, we had a really fun time even though we're not "Super-mega-fans", or even "super-fans".....or really even fans. We did leave after the third quarter...which any kind of fan probably would never have done! In fact we didn't see anyone but us leaving. But, being the non-fans we are, we were very keen on getting out of downtown before it became a grid-lock of super-mega-fans (either stoked by the win or crazy over the loss). As it was we left just as cops were setting up all kinds of confusing barricades and cones in the streets around the "Energy Solutions Arena".

We did listen to the rest of the game on the radio as we drove home, since we now had a vested interest in the game (we'd spent three hours of our lives watching it....we had to find out what those three hours meant!)

The Jazz won! Woo-hoo!

Are we converted? I think not. :)

Happy Birthday to Rob

Rob celebrated his birthday by giving himself the day off. ;)

First he went shooting with his dad. He came home just after the kids got off school and we piled into the car and headed to the chiropractor for a family visit. After that Rob took us all to "How to Train a Dragon" at the movie theater. It was a really fun movie, we all had a great time! On the way home we realized we were hungry and decided to take advantages of some free meals we had at two different places. It made dinner VERY affordable!! :D

I never thought to take any pictures. :/

Till that night, Chloe and I took a bath and she was just so cute in her little bear/outfit/towel that I couldn't help snapping a few pics. (I wasn't too keen on being in them tho). :P

Look at that happy baby. I just love her!! :)

(22 April 2010)

SPRING!!

The weather got REALLY nice last week so on Monday night, after Rob got home from work, and after dinner (which was miraculously over at a decent time, thanks to Paula), we decided to take a walk as a family.Chloe really seemed to enjoy it!!

It's really the first time she's been very aware when she's been for a walk in the stroller.(Ben and Molly were off on the playground when I remembered to get out the camera) :/

(19 April 2010)

I Can't believe 4 Months have gone by!!!

Four months ago, at exactly this time, Chloe took her first breath. It was amazing to meet her for the first time!! That moment is utterly, indelibly, irrevocably etched into my mind (as I'm sure most, if not all, moms would agree). She is simply a joy to our family. It is so fun to glimpse her little personality. She has such a peacefulness about her that I can't help but bask in her serenity. I love that little girl more every day, and I'm still in awe about how a little person could grow inside me and then come out and be her own little person...it boggles my mind, and yet it happens all over the world, everyday. It amazes me that such a miracle as life could be so prosaic.

Chloe commemorated her 4 month birthday this morning by grabbing her toes for the first time. (Too bad my camera was in the car and I had to resort to my cell phone camera...the things we take for granted these days...resort to another camera....my how technology has changed since I was a kid!) ;)

Chloe's 4 month size picture. Our day was pretty crazy. By the time I was able to take a picture of her, she was dreaming sweetly. Oh well, I guess it makes it interesting because it's different than all the others...although I might do another one tomorrow. :)

Molly's Dance Class

For Molly's birthday this year Paula found a dance class for her and we got her signed up.

She's done a little ballet before at her old school (Summit Academy)

but she got discouraged and didn't seem to enjoy it so we didn't ever get her into anything.

Now, however, she's really enjoying it!!

This is her costume for her recital in June.

She's doing tap and ballet.

(19 April 2010)

Wiggling & Giggling & Wiggling & Giggling

I must amend that title...not so much giggling as smiling.

Chloe is such a good natured, smiley baby.

She giggles occasionally, maybe once every day, but they're brief and far between.

Smiles on the other hand are as abundant as her wiggles!

(14 April 2010)

(15 April 2010)
Thanks for the cute outfit Fran!! :)

Chloe is growing so much...she's wearing a 6-12 month outfit here!!

I just can't keep up with her growing!

Rob will often come home from work and say to her:

"You've done it again!! You've gone and got bigger while I was at work."

I think it might be true too!! :P

Snuggling

So I've mentioned, and also shown pictures of, Chloe's habit of snuggling her nose into my neck while she sleeps (she's done with Rob also, but I don't have any pictures). I also mentioned how she likes doing the same thing in her cradle against her fuzzy bumper pad.

(11 April 2010)

And how it's a bit worrisome to us and we try to discourage this behaviour by turning her away from the pad, but many times she ends up turning right back and burrowing her nose into the pad again. (I usually at least put her little snuggle blanket between her face and the pad because it's more convenient to keep clean.) :P

(12 April 2010)

She also works her cute little legs or arms, or sometimes both, out of her swaddling while she sleeps. Funny girl. :)

Thankfully, last Thursday and Friday (April 22 and 23) I noticed that when I laid her in the bassinet she turned away from the pad instead of toward it!! Maybe this is a new trend! :)

A Few Days In The Life of An Infant

•last week Chloe started laying with her legs straight up in the air

•this week, yesterday for the first time, she used those raised legs to help her flip from back to front...she did it by turning on her side while her legs were raised and then suddenly flipping onto her tummy

•she's only grabbed onto hands, her pacifier, or clothing until today...for the first time today she reached for two different things out of curiosity: my hair and a book I was reading (in both cases she just watched her hand exploring the object of her attention but never grabbed anything...just explored)

•this week she's taken to sucking on one hand while raising the other straight into the air and keeping it there...maybe she's been watching too many super-hero shows with her dad ;)

•tonight I was rocking her to sleep, her face was in the customary nuzzle position-- flat up against my neck-- and her breathing was slow and deep, when suddenly she let out a long, giddy giggle.... I'd really like to know what that dream was about!!!

Chloe's Blessing

Chloe was blessed on 11 April 2010. My dad's birthday. :)

I didn't take any pictures!! :(

The next day my sweet sister Maria came over to my house to take some pictures of Chloe in her dress since we missed it that day.

This is a little video clip of Chloe during the shoot....ignore all the giggling in the background. :P

The dress she wore was a dress my Grandma Grace made over 60 years ago when she had her first child. It was worn by my Uncle Eric. I've loved it ever since I first saw it so my grandma intended it to me when she passes away but she decided to give it to me now so that my little Chloe could wear it to be blessed in. I find it incredibly special that she was able to wear a dress made by the wonderful lady she was named after!!

The blessing was really special. It wasn't too long and it was very meaningful! I had three of my sisters write it down as they heard it so that I could put those in her baby book. I hope she will treasure that as I've treasured many of the blessings I've kept record of in my life!!

(12 April 2010)