Lots of Traveling

The past week has been very busy! I feel like we have spent a lot of time in the car driving to different places. The girls have been very good though.

Last Thursday, Eileen (my mother-in-law) and I took the girls up to Palos Heights, a suburb of Chicago, for Chloe's doctor's appointment. My pediatrician had referred me to a pediatric dermatologist, because Chloe has a hemangioma, which is a birthmark that grows in size and darkens in color for the first nine months and will then shrink and fade for the next five to ten years. She has it in her diaper area and my pediatrician was worried that it may get infected. The dermatologist looked at it and said that it looked good and she did not want to do anything with it. I just have to keep an eye on it and if it does open up, I have to let her know immediately. I felt much better knowing that Chloe wasn't going to have to have surgery to have it removed or anything like that.

On Friday, my mom, sister, the girls, and I went to Iowa for a long weekend. My cousin Alaina graduated from high school and was having a party on Sunday to celebrate. Mom was going to help Aunt Cindy with the preparations and I thought that it would be fun to ride along, considering that neither one of the girls had ever been to Iowa and we hadn't seen Grandpa and Grandma in a long time. The girls did fantastic in the car! Chloe slept most of the way, while Aubrey didn't sleep at all. We brought toys for her to play with, and she watched a movie on mom's computer. We had a great time seeing family that I haven't seen in several years. The girls got way off schedule, and it was very frustrating dealing with Chloe who wasn't quite sure how to act. All in all though, it was worth the rough patches for a chance to spend time with my grandparents!

This past Wednesday, we went up to Chebanse, because it was the last day of school for my old class and I hadn't been to see them yet. It was fun to see the kids and get a chance to visit with a few of the parents and teachers. I also was able to get all of my stuff packed up from my classroom to bring home. (Then I don't have to make another trip up there.) It was nice to see everyone, but I am so glad that I am at home with the girls now!

Today we had to go to the grocery store and Walmart, which is an event in itself. Tomorrow I want to go and get flowers, as I haven't planted in my flower beds yet. Then hopefully we can spend some time at home without having to go anywhere!

Aubrey fell asleep on Uncle Larry's lap. He asked her if she wanted to rock with him, and she said yes and ended up falling asleep. I think he looks enough like Grandpa that Aubrey was very comfortable around him.

Chloe likes her stomach - for a minute or so.

Aubrey loved playing Grandma's clavinova.

Aubrey had to "fix" Grandpa because he was "sick".

Me and my two girls - we were all in yellow!

Grandma, Chloe, Grandpa, Mom, Aubrey, and me

Chloe is named after these two - Grandma Chloe and Danielle

Grandma Chloe and baby Chloe

Aubrey loved jumping on the trampoline with Zach and Caisha.

Aubrey and Daddy mowing the lawn together. Aubrey ended up falling asleep!

When we got home from Iowa, Calvin surprised us by having worked hard all weekend to put Aubrey's swing set up. He did a great job and Aubrey was so excited to play on it!

Long Overdue

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted pictures and updated you on things that were happening around here. Part of it is not my fault though. Our computer has been getting worked on for the past week, and we finally got it back yesterday. Two weeks ago my sister Danielle came and visited us and stayed with us for a week. She returned home from her semester in Italy and we were very anxious to see her. She was also anxious to see Chloe as she was gone when Chloe was born. It was so much fun having her around! We had definitely missed her these past few months! It was so nice outside the one day that she was here. We went to the park, went for a walk, and then had a picnic lunch. We also went shopping - my first "real" (not grocery store or Walmart) shopping trip since Chloe was born. I was able to get some much needed clothing for the girls and just enjoy being out. Aubrey had a blast as she loves shopping, and Chloe was very good also.

Chloe rolled over for the first time last week. She was laying on a towel in the bathroom while I was filling her little tub. When I turned around to put the tub down, she was laying on her stomach on the hard tile floor! I think that she had a little leverage being slightly higher than the floor on her towel, because she has not rolled over since. She is doing so much better about her fussiness. She has turned into quite the happy baby - as long as she is not tired or hungry! She is also finally sleeping longer periods in her bed during the day. Today she slept for almost three hours in her bed! What an improvement!

Aubrey continues to make life interesting. She is very creative and loves to play with her babies. She could play with them all day long. She also loves to read books and loves the fact that we have been getting new books from the library for her to read. She is getting a new tooth in, but it doesn't seem to be bothering her any. On a sad note (for me anyways), I've decided to quit potty training for a while. Aubrey was having at least one accident a day and it was a struggle to get her to go potty, so I decided to take a break from it for a while. Hopefully when we try again it will go a little smoother.

Enjoy the pictures and the changes in the girls!

Doesn't she look so sweet and innocent - like a little angel?

Aubrey and Chloe hanging out together

Reading books with Aunt Dani - Chloe wasn't very happy about it

Chloe's personalized towel from Venice, Italy

Aubrey getting her toenails painted for the first time

Aubrey's painted toenails

Going for a walk with Aunt Dani

Chloe fell asleep in the back of the stroller as we were walking.

Chloe's 3 month picture

This is Chloe's "I just woke up - leave me alone" look.

Chloe looks so cute in this outfit with the hood up!

Mother's Day with my two beautiful daughters

Aubrey decided to lay down next to Chloe and play with her.

Beautiful Weather

What a beautiful week we had last week! It was so nice to spend some time outside and to be able to play without freezing! Calvin put Aubrey's little climbing cube back together, so she played almost every day on that. It has a little slide with it and she knows how to climb up it and then slide down by herself. She also swung some in her swing. Although we did notice that the swing broke, thanks to the wind slamming it into the tree all winter. (We should have taken it down but we never got around to it!) We also spent some time in the goat barn watching the goats. That is one of Aubrey's favorite places to be. She even walked out there by herself several times! That's pretty impressive considering the dog was out there with us too. Chloe went outside several times with us too. She wasn't so sure about the brightness though. I laid her down in the shade and she could hardly open her eyes, because she thought it was so bright. It was actually kind of funny!

One of Aubrey's favorite things to do right now is scream, whether she's inside or outside. We talk all the time about screaming only being an outside thing (she can tell you the rule, but doesn't always follow it). Here she is screaming since we are outside.

We played with the blocks. I was making towers, but Aubrey decided that she would rather put hers together in a row.

Chloe loves to watch TV. Here she is staring intently at the TV while laying on the floor!

I had to clean Chloe's scalp again with baby oil. Her hair is getting so long!

My two little angels

Aubrey was kissing Chloe while holding her. Pretty impressive (and scary)!

A Big Change for Chloe

This past week flew by very quickly. On Wednesday, I babysat my two nieces (ages 4 and 11 months) in the morning. On Thursday, I babysat Clare (the 11 month old) in the morning. Those two mornings just flew by. Everything went pretty well. I was able to get the two babies fed and napped without too much schedule conflict. Aubrey enjoyed having Sophia to play with and watching Clare. Aubrey needs to work on sharing her toys, but part of that is typical behavior for her age.

Sophia and Aubrey watching TV

Friday again was mom's Bible study at church. There were less children there, so I thought that maybe Aubrey would play with the other kids, but she was still pretty shy. I think that she might be intimidated because they are older than she is and were already there playing together once we got there. Who knows. We go to the library next week where the kids are more her age, so we'll see what she does there.

We moved Chloe up to her room for the first time on Saturday night. She has been making so much noise (squeaking, grunting, and moving around) that we couldn't take her being in our bedroom anymore. I was a little nervous, but with the baby monitor, you can hear everything (if you want to)! She slept okay, but was up earlier than normal. I didn't sleep very good that first night, because I was nervous about her being up there. Since then, we have slept better each night though. It is so nice having our room back! No more tip-toeing around so as not to wake her up. The only fear I have is that she will wake Aubrey up, so I make sure to head upstairs as soon as I hear her start to cry.

Aubrey continues to be a good helper. She also has found that she loves the goats! She loves to go outside and watch them in the barn. She could stand out there for hours! She has even petted one of the baby ones several times, which is amazing for the girl who seems to be afraid of everything at the moment! She has also been much better about walking around outside even if Tess, our dog, is around. She doesn't like her, but she tolerates her. It's a step in the right direction. :)

Aubrey in the goat barn

One of the baby goats - aren't they cute?

Chloe sleeping in the swing

Chloe awake!

Aubrey standing beside the table in her room

Aubrey in front of her kitchen

Chloe fell asleep on the floor while I was making supper!

Growing so fast!

Chloe went for her 2 month well check last week on Tuesday. It's hard to believe that she is already 2 months old! Time sure does fly! Anyways, she checked out just fine. She is now 22 inches long and weighs 10 pounds 6 ounces, which is around what Aubrey weighed when she was that age. It's fun to compare how they have grown.

Chloe has become less fussy and likes to lay down on the ground and watch things. She loves it when you talk to her and will almost always stop crying and smile at you when you do this. She definitely has a little personality and is stubborn - surprise, surprise! She will wail for a little bit if she's unhappy, and then stop after a minute or two and just look around as if nothing happened. She absolutely loves the swing and will sleep for hours in it! I'm trying to get her to sleep in her bed, but she will only take about 15 minute naps in it. She does sleep well in it at night though. She only gets up once, usually around 5:30 a.m. and then goes back to bed for several more hours.

We are still working on potty training Aubrey. Some days I feel like she will never be potty trained, but mom tells me to just persevere and it will eventually happen. We bought new treats today, so we will see if that helps.

We went to mom's Bible study at church last week for the first time. It was so nice to sit with other moms and talk. Aubrey also enjoyed being around the other children, though she was a little shy. Hopefully she will be more outgoing as we go more often.

Our other big news for the week is that we got goats! Calvin and his friend Steve bought 31 goats together, some of which will kid (have babies) soon. The babies are so cute! Aubrey likes to watch them, as long as someone is holding her. Chloe has not been out to see them yet, as it has not been warm enough to take her outside. Hopefully soon! I'll try to get a picture of them and post it next time.

Chloe's 2 month picture

I love this outfit of hers!

I was trying to get a smile, but was unsuccessful!

Here's Chloe smiling as she falls to the side!

Visitors Galore!

Last week Jenna spent the week with us. It was so nice having an extra set of hands to help with the girls. Aubrey absolutely loves Jenna and Jen is so good about playing with her. They had a great time playing in Aubrey's kitchen, playing games (which is Aubrey's new thing), and painting. Jen also learned how to calm Chloe and there were several times where she got Chloe to go to sleep. Needless to say, we were very sad when she left with mom and dad on Sunday.

While Jenna was here, we went and got Aubrey's hair cut. Aubrey was excited about it and was so good while Aunt Betty trimmed it up. It looks so much better now, even though I was sad to cut it.

Aubrey's hair before she got it cut

Sitting on the big chair

Aubrey's shorter hair

Painting with Aunt Jenna

Chloe playing under her barnyard gym

On Friday, mom, dad, and Hannah came for the weekend. We hadn't seen mom and dad since Chloe's baptism and since they went to England. They came bearing gifts and pictures from their trip. It was a beautiful weekend! Saturday we went to the park and played. We then went for a walk through Crescent City and got pizza from Casey's to eat at the park. I think that Chloe got too much fresh air, because she was a CRAB later that night! But it was so nice to be outside and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. Aubrey liked playing at the park, but didn't like the swings or slides. I'm not sure what is up with that, considering she loved both of those things at the end of the fall last year. Hopefully she will get over this as she goes on them more.

Swinging with Aunt Jenna

Riding on the motorcycle with Grandma

Chloe and Grandpa going for a walk around the park

Chloe's first time getting fresh air

Aubrey reading Daddy's magazine

Chloe and Grandpa taking a nap together