too cute for one day!

I got Chloe all dressed up to go out and she was being so darn adorable that I had to take some pictures with my i-phone. I can't resist.

Don't you just want to pick her up and give her lots of hugs and kisses! She is the just so cute!

Still Here :)

I just realized that it has been over a week since I have posted anything! Gosh! We are still here, and still doing great! Chloe is growing and changing by the minute! This is both good and also a little challenging for the parents....

Chloe now LOVES to be on her play mat. She rolls around and plays with everything...even tiny tiny pieces of dirt. She may even like the tiny pieces of dirt/rocks/who knows what, more than her toys. She doesn't put them in her mouth but moves the tiny speck around with her fingers while concentrating really hard. Our house isn't dirty, but she finds everything! It is really adorable, except that it reminds me I now need to vacuum twice a day. (not that I do, but I probably should)
She also learned to scoot backwards.....I was working on my computer during one of her mat playtime sessions and looked up to find Chloe all the way across the room. She started right next to me. Oh no. This is when the work really begins, from what I have heard! For about a week she could only scoot backwards, which leads to problems when one gets into a corner. She wasn't too happy to get stuck here, but I got her out right after I grabbed the camera and took a picture.

We also had other adventures over the past two weeks.... We went to Whittier harbor and took pictures for Andrew's work. It was a gorgeous day, very clear and very sunny. We missed the tunnel back to Anchorage and got stuck there for an hour until the tunnel opened again. (the only way into Whittier is through a one way tunnel that was cut through a huge mountain. It is only open for 15 minutes in each direction, separated by 15 minute exhaust clear out times) Well apparently that day they decided to only open it for 5 min each hour.....so we missed the tunnel. Luckily there is a hotel there where we could grab a drink and relax a bit. Chloe loved being out of the car seat with her Dad!

More fun with Dad.

I also finally got my act together and finished sewing a present for baby Mia (who was born before Christmas). Chloe also got into the spirit, and wanted to do a photo shoot...what a sweet girl, right? We can't wait to meet Mia, Congratulations Brian and Natalie!

We had fun with it!

Holy cow, I just realized Chloe is now 8 months old! Wow! Hopefully life will slow down a little in the next while so I can get some more posts up. Pretty soon she will be one, and I want to savor all of the time and capture all of the memories. That might be an oxymoron but with my memory (bad) I have to post, otherwise I will not know where the time went!

Oh yeah baby!! I got to organize this week! My parents got us an Amazon gift card for Christmas and we used it to buy the coolest thing we could think of......OXO POP kitchen storage containers!!! They are awesome.
Before organization......everything is literally shoved in this huge cabinet....chips, crackers, candy, protein bars.....pretty much anything snack related. It is deep too, maybe

2 or 3 feet deep. You know the saying it gets worse before it gets better....So true, and in my case WAY worse!Chloe did help me out though...Looks like she likes organizing too.

Here is the final product....looks like we need to get more storage containers, or buy less crap... But the final product is much better. Now I have to get working on the rest of the cabinets :)

I am not sure why organization makes me so happy, but it does! Another great weekend!

Playing with Elena!

Chloe got in her last few hours with her favorite aunt Elena before Elena had to fly back to DC. Chloe just lights up when Elena is around. It is really amazing!

While she was visiting Elena, she also got some time in with her bouncer. Another favorite :) Proof she really does like beets. Yummy!!

Chilling with Mom after work.

She loves everything she sees me using. She especially loves my laptop, and my phone. It is pretty amazing how exciting the most regular things can be for her. She has all sorts of toys that sing and flash and move...but she likes the grown up "toys" the best.

I guess this posting of photos is a little bit of a random grouping, but this is what we did the last couple of days!

Well actually this and staying up all night 3 nights in a row with a really sick baby girl. She got a cold and kept herself up at night with all of her coughing. Poor thing, we felt so bad for her, but she is better now. Thank goodness it is over. Here's hoping for a good night's sleep!

Out to Dinner

We tried out a new restaurant in our neighborhood last night. It's called Firetap, and serves local micro brews, all on tap. (Andrew says they also serve other stuff too). I had sierra mist...also delicious. Chloe had a great time. The restaurant has really high ceilings- sort of an industrial feel, so it was pretty noisy which she happens to prefer. The food was great and the company was even better! We went out with Amy and Dustin. Amy is one of Chloe's very favorite people :) I think she may even prefer Amy over me or Andrew.

Dustin also gets the seal of approval from the little lady :) He was keeping her entertained all night.

Amy had the brilliant idea to take a family photo! We really don't have many of these at all. Thanks Amy!

Another fun day up in Alaska! Happy New Year everyone!

Beets!

Guess what Chloe ate today??? Beets!! She not only ate them, she LOVED them! That's my little girl! Yum! We were a little worried she wouldn't like them because she has really only liked orange foods..carrots, yams, and butternut squash. To be fair, the only foods that weren't orange were peas and avocado...not good. Actually when she tried the avocado she jerked her head away like she was Kramer from Seinfeld. Hilarious!

The beets were organic of course and from the farmer's market. I steamed, then pureed them. Perfect!

Chloe also loves to eat paper. We have to keep an eye on her, she will actually chew it up and swallow it! Here she is caught in the act :)

Christmas Time Photos

Christmas Eve Party Time!!

The whole family got dressed up for the party! We got to stay up late, all of us! Chloe kept her eyes open until after 9. Wow, and she was happy the whole time! A great success!

Christmas morning was so much more special with a little one in the house! She doesn't know about Santa yet, but she does know she likes the toys he brings! She really liked this musical train from her great grandma. It plays music and cycles balls thru it. Pretty darn exciting!

She also loved the wrapping......bubble wrap, paper, ribbons, tags.... anything!

Chloe also got in the spirit and made this present for her Dad. She did all of it by herself! I painted the blue base, but she did the texure below and all of the colors! We had a great time, and for the most part Chloe kept the paint on the canvas and out of her mouth. We used non-toxic paint- safety first! We will be creating more masterpieces soon!

Next stop was Grandma and Grandpa Romerdahl's house for some more presents. This Baby Einstein Jumper was the hit of the day. She wouldnt stop jumping, even for these pictures...

Here's a little video of Chloe in action on the jumper:

Well, thats all for now. Stay tuned for more Christmas (and New Year's) pictures.