Our New Backyard!

Finally we finished up the last few projects in the backyard this weekend. Of course when my parents were up here they put in the bulk of the work, but we wanted to put the final touches on before we posted their masterpiece. Yes, for those of you asking, we do rent them out, it is just plane fare, food and lodging, and we do charge a finders fee. Although there is quite a waiting list for them, and we have them reserved until all of our projects are all done! :)

So before I show the after, I will show the before....it is actually the "during" picture, but it is the best I can do. We did not have steps leading off the back deck, and we decided that now that we have a little one in the house, we should work on safety projects first. So steps were the first idea.....this blossomed into steps, a paved patio and built in planter boxes, oh and also a new sliding glass door off the kitchen. My parents were here for less than two weeks, and somehow we all thought that this would be a good idea.

BEFORE (during)

OUR CREW (Andrew helped too, I was very little help- mostly just baby duty)

TA DA!!

Doesn't it look fantastic??? We had to finish leveling the soil and planting grass around the patio, laying the slate around the garden, painting the trim around the door, and planting in the planters....oh and moving the mountain of dirt from the middle of the backyard to the corner of the backyard, and the mountain of extra gravel to the dog run. A pretty busy Sunday afternoon, but it is all done now!

It feels so great to go back there and enjoy our backyard, instead of see a project to complete!

Thank you so much Mom and Dad!!! Chloe loves her new play/lounge area, and the dogs are constantly outside laying on the new patio! It is wonderful!

Cutest Baby EVER!

We had some tummy time today, and Chloe was even more adorable than usual! Mom and baby spent most of the day together while Dad was busy kicking butt in a golf tournament. Somehow we had time to do a little photo shoot. Here are some of the shots we got...



She had a great time being on her tummy time mat. Grandma Donna also came over to spend time with her grand daughter. Hopefully, tomorrow we can finish the back yard patio project and post the "after" pictures.

First Real Smile!

From the day she was born, Chloe has been a little angel! She is the perfect baby! But today she became even more perfect because she looked up at me and gave me this HUGE smile!! I wish Andrew was here to see it! I am sure he has a lot of smiles in his future though. Before today the only smiles we saw were ones she made in her sleep, it is so amazing to see her change and learn new skills every day!

This picture is from last night, she is all dressed and ready for bed. I think she really looks like Andrew in this picture. Very adorable.
I finally got in a picture with Chloe! I was waiting for a good hair day....these days that means I got take a shower :)
We gave Chloe her second bath a few days ago. She really seems to like it! No screaming fits, the other parents had warned us about.

It may have to do with the Euro Wash Pod we bought for her. It is supposed to simulate the womb, and make the baby comfortable. It seems to work! You can buy them on Amazon.com if anyone is interested. They also carry them at Junior Towne here in Anchorage. We highly recommend it if you like happy bathing babies!

These hooded towels are great too! Thanks Janice! No matter how many pictures we take, it never seems to be enough! These weeks are just flying by! Tomorrow Chloe will be 4 weeks old. It is just unbelievable. She is still in newborn clothes. There are a few things that fit her from 0-3 months, but most of it may as well be for toddlers because she swims in them! She is quite tall, but very slender....not a bad combo if it sticks with her!

Last night we went over to visit Conor and Gloria. The guys went out and worked on the Volvo, adding a tow package, while us girls stayed inside drank wine and chatted. Chloe made herself right at home and fell asleep in Gloria's arms right off the bat. What a natural! Chloe is wearing a hat that Conor's grandma (Mamasan) made her. It is a little bit of a pimp hat, but Chloe is into it!

Happy Baby!

Chloe has loved visiting with G-ma and G-pa Peters! They left last night for Oregon, and I am sure they are exhausted after a week and a half with an adorable baby and a bunch of home projects. My super handy parents spent most of their time here in the backyard making the deck more baby friendly. They added steps off the deck and a huge, I mean really huge paver patio. my next post will have all of the before and after photos..... this one will be mostly (you guessed it) photos of our adorable happy baby Chloe!


This picture captures Chloe's super woman pose. She does it all of the time. What you can't see is that one leg is bent and one extended as if she is taking off in flight to save the world. It is adorable!


Pretty in pink.

My dad, aka G-pa Allen with his first grand daughter. She just loves him and it doesn't look like he minds her too much either. For some reason we didn't get any pictures with my mom holding her....guessing it was maybe because she held Chloe for my shower and cooking breaks. Chloe loves her G-ma too!
It is hard to get a sense of scale for how tiny Chloe really is. I put her in my rocking chair, she is swimming in it! She is ready for a nap here--super yawn!

G-ma and G-pa Romerdahl had their time with Chloe too! What you cant see in this picture is that Chloe started screaming the moment Andrew handed her over to his Dad. She loves her grandpa Jim, but for some reason she didn't love being held that day- at all. Andrew would take her and it was like turning off a crying switch, then would give her back to Jim and the switch was flipped back on. It was so funny, for all of us other than Chloe! Sometimes a girl just wants her daddy!

Baby's Second Brewery Trip

I say second trip because the first time we went to midnight sun we forgot the camera. This time Grandma Julie and Grandpa Allen are in town and Chloe wanted to show them all of her favorite places. This is one of them :) Actually she slept the whole time we were there in the baby sling, something about the noise of lots of people lulls her right to sleep.

This is a picture of Chloe getting ready to leave the house.



And here she is with Mom and Dad :)

Cheers to the new grandparents.

They are so adorable aren't they?

The trip to Midnight sun was great. So far they have been here 4 days and already we have done so much! That is probably why there have been so few posts! Most of the time has been spent loving on Chloe, or changing her diaper or feeding her. Who knew it took so long to leave the house? The real reason it takes so long is because it requires at least 1 diaper change and a minimum of 2 feedings until she is ready to go. How is it that I feel like she has just eaten and already it is time to eat again? Time just flies by with a baby!

Grandpa Allen with Chloe. It is so great to have the help holding her! It gives me a chance to brush my teeth, and do all of the other little things I took for granted 2 weeks ago.

Grandma Julie got her to take her first pacifier! Yay it is progress! She only kept it for a few minutes, but hey that is a start!

We took her for a walk on the hillside trails and got eaten by mosquitoes! My poor Dad is getting attacked because he stopped to let me get the camera out. The dogs loved the walk too, although they did not like the mosquitoes either!


and last but not least the best mugs ever! Thanks Mary! They are cute but also so in vogue!

And now I am going to sleep......hopefully I wont regret taking precious sleeping time to post this when I am exhausted tomorrow morning!

More Visitors

Little Chloe has been getting more visitors than us these days. John and Diana came by to say hi



Chuck, Lupe and Bella also came by, but they took all the pics with their camera (guest post???)

Here is Chloe at her first job, what a hard worker!

Hopefully she doesnt hit up her parents for picture money, she will be young and rich!!!

Grandma Julie and Grandpa Allen arrive tonight from Oregon, so there will definitely be more pics to come.

1 Week Old!!

It's been a busy week, but we have managed to get out and do some fun things with our little Chloe. The big news is that we were able to start using her new cloth diapers. Check her out:

We caught her in this funny sleeping face, what a cutie!

Our friend Amy came over and brought us some delicious lunch (Thanks Amy!!!)

Also, she was able to get all of us to stay still long enough for our first family portrait

Elena also sent up a tiny baby bracelet. We never thought it would fit, but actually its still a bit big on her little wrist.

Chloe has also been spending some daddy time, she really likes when Andrew holds her

Yesterday (Saturday) was Chloe's first big day out on the town. We met up with Donna and went to lunch at Snow City downtown. Chloe was very good sitting with us in her car seat

Then we walked down to the Saturday Market

It was a really nice day, although Chloe spent most of the day fast asleep in her stroller.

Thats all for now...

Wednesday Already!!!

Wow, these last few days have really flown by...I guess what they say about having fun is true!! We have had some exciting nights, but overall everyone is doing very well with the new situation. Chloe and Carmen are napping right now, so I figured I would put up a few of the hundreds (literally) of pictures that we have taken since Chloe got home.

Here's one of Chloe in her fuzzy bear outfit, also captured is her elusive smiley face!

Conor and Gloria stopped by to see the new arrival

One of Chloe's favorite spots is in her baby sling that Carmen made. I can tell it will be a quick fix if she starts to get fussy

We took Chloe out in her brand new stroller (thanks to Allen and Julie) for a walk around the neighborhood.

She really likes the smooth ride, it puts her right to sleep. Also, it gives her a chance to wear her new hats that grandma Donna made for her.

Another picture of her in the baby sling, she gets some funny poses during her naptime

Corey, Hetty, Ella and Addie came by to say hi and to bring us Moose's Tooth (thanks again!!!), and Ella really wanted to hold "Baby Chloe"

This reminded us of just a few years back, when we were holding Baby Ella at our wedding

Aunt Elena sent Chloe a really cool onesie from New York, and even though its still a bit big for her we had to try it on

Chloe had her first doctor's appointment yesterday, and amazingly she did very well when they dressed her down to do the exam.

Here is yet another picture of Chloe in the sling, I think this is my favorite picture of her so far!!! (photography credit goes to Carmen for this one)

Thats all for now...

Andrew, Carmen and Chloe