Eating with a Spoon

This morning for breakfast Chloe and I had Cream of Wheat hot cereal. Here she is eating the cereal all by herself with a spoon. She ate most of the cereal all by herself (she insisted upon this!!) I was so proud of her that I had to take a couple of photos to share with you.





You can see in the photo above that our entry way has a long vertical glass window next to our front door. This is a perfect height for Chloe and she is easily able to sit there so this has become her new favorite spot.

Coloring

Chloe is 15 mos old now & continually amazes us. Some of her newest accomplishments are: she knows the hand motions to twinkle, twinkle, she can blow kisses, she plays ball (rolling the ball back to you), she understands small commands & follows through with them (like when we ask her to bring us certain things she will or when we ask her to turn a book page she will, etc), she uses utencils when eating on a more regular basis & drinks from a regular cup (I still help her with the utencils, but she is able to scoop food on spoons more & more and is able to stab at food with a fork & bring that food to her mouth to eat it & I do have sippy cups on hand just in case), she is interested in the potty, but I think it is still a bit too early for it, but I can see it won't be too long before the potty training ensues, she can stack blocks, dances all the time, & finally, as the photos show below, she is starting to color & loves it! Her vocabulary is still pretty small, but when you say phrases like "I love you" she will try to mimick you back & definately make the tonal noises correctly (kinda like scooby doo). I wrote her name on the paper, & showed her what to do with the crayons & she caught on pretty quick (she wanted to stick them in her mouth at first but after showing her how to use them properly a couple of times she really got the idea...what a smart girl!!)

Good Times

Some cute photo moments for you to enjoy...

grinning from ear to ear...

Holly Hobby pose...

on the move...

kickin' back & enjoying life...

Keepin' Cool

It sure is hot here...100's & more it seems these days. Here are my two most favorite people stayin' cool in the summer heat...

Chloe loves her raft. She has learned to kick her legs to make it move & she motors around the pool all on her own (of course we are in the pool with her but she can get around the pool without us pushing her, & in fact, sometimes she insists upon doing it herself...that's our smart, independent girl!!)


Here I am lounging (this is the present Nate got for me for our anniversary) & Chloe is just having a blast motoring around the pool.

Chloe was being extra cute before church this morning, dancing & all to her vegie tales music, so I took this photo to share with you. She is our dancin' queen...

Celebrate Independence

We had a nice 4th of July. Family came over for bbq & pool party. The pool has been lots of fun & we spend time in it every day (and for me multiple times a day!!) Chloe is celebrating independence day by wearing a cute red tank top with the american flag on it reading "Celebrate Independence 2006" & her socks are a cute osh kosh patriotic print.

We have bought a bunch of pool toys...one of which Nate gave me for our anniversay (we celebrate 6 AWESOME years of marriage on sat. July 8th). He bought me a lounger for the pool & it is so wonderful. Chloe got a water torpedo (it is a chair for little ones that floats on the water & I can't wait to try it out.) We also bought her this suit that has foam in the top of it to act like a life vest for little ones...it actually did not work as well as I had hoped but you can see her wearing it in the photo below. We hope you all had a fun & safe independence day.


I am ready to swim...


but I need my snack 1st...

Grandma, will you take me swimming now?

ok, I will just play with my toys...

read to me, daddy!!

Chloe & the Ducks

applause, please...

Dive in!

The sand was delivered about 1.5 weeks ago...

Nate chose a great spot in the backyard for our pool location then searched our prop for spare railroad ties (which he dragged to the pool spot with our ATV) & here he is forming an area with the railroad ties to be filled with the sand & leveled for the pool.

Here is the spot almost ready for the sand...


now that the weed barrier is down, here comes the sand...


Nate begins to fill...

and fill...

and when Nate could no longer wheelbarrel in the sand...

he used our truck...and when he could no longer do that...

he called in the big guns and a friend came to save the day...

and the leveling began...

and when it became level...

he then put up the pool...

finished...with a beautiful view of the duck pond....this is the life...a lot of work went into putting this pool together and I just wanted to thank my hubby for the best birthday present ever (he worked SO hard & has the blisters to prove it.) I love you, Nate!!

Competitions

Here are some photos of Nate during one of his gun competitions. He does these competitions once a month as a member of a local gun club. I look at him in these photos, any photos really, & my heart still skips a beat...it thrills me to see him having fun and being so cute while having the fun...wink, wink...boy, I do love that man & my love for him grows & grows daily. Anyways, I thought it would be neat to share these photos with you.

Here he is running from target to target...

Here he is shooting at the target & the man behind him is timing his shots.

Father's Day

Chloe & Daddy at Lake Natoma for Father's Day

Pool

Here we are playing in our 8x2 foot wading pool on the deck (you will have to excuse my farmers tan...at least Chloe looks cute!!) I am so excited because my birthday came about two weeks early this year & today Nate bought me an above ground 18x4 foot pool. I can't wait!! Nate is going to be leveling out a spot in our backyard for it so we can set it up. After speaking to a pool store & doing a lot of research online, we believe we have bought the best pool for the money, maintenence, & ease of setup. It will be a great tool to teach Chloe how to swim. And it is big enough to have pool parties with (it may not sound big but it is...it fits 5 adults and 5 kids with room to spare to play and swim around in & that is big enough for us...we have a Lake not 5 min from us if we need bigger...) So, for now, the wading pool will do...for now...

Baby Bambam

I was playing with Chloe's hair (she didn't like it very much) but I was able to put her hair in two different pony tail styles & she actually let me take these totally adorable photos of her. Baby Bambam, anyone??!!?? Oh, & I am bragging a bit, my right as her mom, but is my kid cute or what?

The O.C., Baby!

We went down to Huntington Beach last week for a family visit. Chloe met Great Gma Lois for the first time. It was so fun!! Below are some great photos that I wanted to share.

More apple slices please, Auntie Amy.


We are best pals...


Push me, Gpa, push me...

I love the beach...& french fries & chocolate shakes, too!!

Yeah...what the bear said! (gimme some CHOCOLATE & nobody gets hurt)


I love my Gma's!!

Chloe Explores Our Deck

Here is the humming bird feeder...


I like being out on our deck...

I'm off to see the ducks...


Life is good...