Ice Skating...We Tried!

Well we had this crazy idea that we should introduce Chloe to ice-skating this year (and by the word "we" I mean me, of course--Brian thought it was crazy right from the beginning!), so we actually attempted it for the second time this week. The first time we tried to go to Fountain Square downtown was the same night as the tree lighting, which we thought would be completely dead, but we couldn't even see the square for all the people! Anyway, I thought it would pretty dead on a weekday after Christmas, but of course I was wrong again! After waiting in line for over a half hour (which is enough to do any 2-year old in for sure!), it was finally our turn to go skating. Chloe was very excited about it until she actually tried to stand up in her skates, and then she was even less excited once she and I went on to the ice. In fact, I pretty much had to support her entire body weight the whole time...but as you can tell from where this story is going, our little experiment didn't last too long. As you can see by the look on her face in the last picture, Chloe had her fill in her 20-second introduction to skating! But Drew-Man (his new nickname) sure looked cute in his new winter bear outfit!

Christmas Take Two

Here are some more pictures...this time from Christmas Day. Having a 2-year old in the house is a constant source of entertainment on any given day, and Christmas was no exception--we absolutely never knew what Chloe was going to say next! I think her favorite gift was her special (ie. fake) set of makeup and nail polish that she can use in mommy's bathroom instead of getting into mine all the time (good job, Santa!), and the best part was how she went over to the fireplace, where Santa had left her a thank you note for the cookies, to check her "list" to make sure it was on there! I guess I had said that the makeup kit was on her list to Santa and so she thought that Santa had left the list behind on the hearth....anyway, she had to check her list after every other gift to make sure it was on there! Thankfully, they all were....you know that Santa, he remembers everything! :)

Christmas with the Harves' Family!

There are just too many pictures to choose from to document all the Christmas fun at our house this year...but here are a few of our favorites! From putting the finishing touches (ie. their "handprints") on the gifts that Chloe & Drew made for everyone, to having lots of fun on Christmas Eve listening to Great-Grandpa and Grandpa Creech play music, to opening all the fun gifts from Santa, this certainly was a Christmas that we will never forget. I don't think that Brian and I have ever quite experienced the true magic of the season until we saw it for the first time in Chloe's eyes--the wonder and excitement that she felt was enough for all of us!

Jingle Bells

It's been a lot of fun teaching Chloe all our favorite Christmas songs--here is her version of "Jingle Bells"--her favorite part is saying the "ha ha ha ha"!

Holiday Fun

It is hard to believe that we are this close to Christmas--I realize that I have a lot of blogging to catch up on! December has absolutely flown by for us. The first part of the month we spent passing a cold around to each and every member of the family (oh joys of the season!), and then when we finally felt better we rushed from holiday party to party. We are trying our best to capitalize on this being Chloe's first Christmas of really understanding what the season means. In addition to making out her own list for Santa, she is helping to wrap presents for others and bake cookies for friends. Tonight we went to the zoo and did some of the holiday activities there, which included stories with Mrs. Claus and a visit on Santa's lap (you can see how that went over for yourself!) Of course, Chloe had no problem taking the candy cane from him after she was done throwing a fit on his lap. :)

Turkey Day!

We had a great Thanksgiving yesterday--here are some pictures from the day. Brian cooked the turkey in the smoker and it turned out beautifully! I think he was a bit nervous that I didn't have any contingency plans (ie. a backup turkey in the oven!) but it couldn't have turned out better. And luckily I didn't burn the house down when I lit the sweet potato casserole on fire trying to broil the marshmallow topping....I guess it should have occurred to me that using the broiler in our double oven is not a good idea when you have a large casserole that almost touches the top of the oven....oops! Anyway, we had a great time and the weather even cooperated enough for Chloe to show off her new moves on her bicycle...no one can ride a bike in a dress quite like she can!

Fall Fun

Chloe helped Brian and I rake the leaves in the yard this weekend, and we were having so much fun that I almost didn't get any pictures before Chloe had reached her limit and needed to come inside. Her new que that she is getting tired is that she tells us "my eyes hurt". So I knew I only had a few photo minutes left when I took these pictures. And unfortunately poor Baby Drew missed the whole thing because he was taking a gigantic 3 hour nap! (Could it finally be that elusive tooth finally coming through that is making him sooooo fussy??) We finished up the day with some quiet coloring activities, and it made my day to see Daddy coloring princesses along side Chloe. Of course, Daddy didn't quite understand why Cinderella simply MUST have a pink face...but he went along with it just the same. (Here's a hint to all of Santa's helpers--Chloe is in love with ANY Disney princess!)

Peas Please!

At his 4 month check up last week the pediatrician told us we could go ahead and start giving Drew some veggies since he eats so well and is tolerating cereal. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical because Chloe was 6 months before we started giving her veggies, but we went ahead and gave it a whirl this weekend. As you can tell, he absolutely loved his first bite of peas! I can only imagine how bland the cereal must be that he thinks mashed up peas is such a better alternative...but I'm certainly not going to complain if he turns out to be a good veggie eater!

We had a great time this weekend in Columbus for Matt & Mamta's wedding--and Chloe had a wonderful time with Mama and Papa. She was so excited to go to their house she could barely stand it, and as soon as they came to pick her up she was tugging at their shirts saying, "I'm ready to go, I'm all packed!" We took Drew with us to the wedding and he definitely exceeded our expectations for the night--he even fell asleep in Brian's arms during the reception. But when we put him in his car seat to sleep while we went dancing, we came back to find he had pulled his blanket all the way over his head (see first picture!) as if to tell us that it was a little too loud! Of course, that is the way we feel sometimes when both he and his sister are squealing at the top of their lungs! Our luck ran out a bit on our way home from Columbus because our car had a dead battery and we had quite an adventure to finally make it home with both kids in tow...at the end of the day we need to pay back at least 2 good samaritans and we definitely got a good lesson in patience!! (What a great first dance song, Matt & Mamta)!

Our little Picasso

It wasn't until we played back the video we took during Baby Drew's first "cereal" meal that we realized it might be time for us to do some one-on-one activities for Chloe. All during the background of the video you can hear her talk about how she eats "big girl food", not baby cereal--clearly an indication that she was getting a bit jealous. As luck would have it, I had just enrolled us in a "Pint Sized Picasso" class at the Y where once a week we get to make crafts together and play along side other toddlers. Here is a picture of Chloe showing off her artwork--a painted pumpkin (paper bag), falling leaves on a tree, and a beaded necklace. Here also is a picture of the pretty bouquet that Chloe & Drew (with a little help from Daddy!) so thoughtfully got for my promotion at work--if only I had a video of Chloe saying "con-gatchy-ations"!!

Drew Finds His Toes

There is definitely something truly amazing about watching a baby put his own foot in his mouth! Maybe it's because as adults we've somehow lost the flexibility (and the desire!) to do the same thing and yet it seems so easy for a baby! Or maybe it's just because it is such a funny sight! Either way, here is a picture of Baby Drew figuring it out for the first time. Oh, and by the way, he rolled over (from belly to back) over the weekend! (but we didn't get that on film....poor second child, Baby Drew)

Chloe's ABC's

Chloe loves to sing her ABC's....just usually not on command. Somehow I was able to capture the whole song on video--of course we think she's a musical genius, but you be the judge!

Trick-or-Treat

Here are some fun pictures from trick-or-treat at the Harves'! Chloe really enjoyed going around to the neighbors' houses and getting candy, although you'd never know it by the serious looks she gave everyone when she said "trick-or-treat". But all she could talk about this morning was the "ghost that talked to her", so I think it's safe to say she was pretty awe-struck by the whole event! And Baby Drew did a great job passing out candy and keeping a watchful eye over the whole process--he even let Chloe him for a picture or two, so I was happy about that. Of course, getting them both to look at the camera is beyond impossible, so I settled for them just both being in the same picture at all at this point! I'm pretty sure Chloe will be talking about her first trick-or-treat experience for a long time to come and we will certainly laugh at the memory as well!

Ready for Cereal!

Baby Drew had his first taste of rice cereal tonight...and you would have thought it was filet mignon by his reaction! He has definitely been fussy lately....all the drooling made us think it was a tooth, but then the last few days he has just wanted to eat constantly. It finally got to the point where he is easily up over 40 ounces of milk a day, so I took that as the final cue that he is ready for something more. Daddy saved the day and brought cereal home with him, and Drew couldn't get enough of it! He didn't even try to spit any of it out, and he went to bed sooo easily tonight! Let's just hope this does the trick!

A rare moment....

We caught a rare moment on camera today--Chloe was actually willing to smile for the camera and even hold Baby Drew.....for all of about 5 seconds. Luckily we were able to quickly take this picture before the moment was gone. As soon as we took the picture Chloe told me to get "it" off of her (meaning Baby Drew, of course), and as soon as I picked him up, he spit up all over me. That in turn sent Chloe into laughing hysterics, almost as if she knew she were setting me up!

"He Wants Me"

We're not 100% sure, but the past few days Drew has been showing the symptoms of getting his first tooth--fussiness, waking up at night, drooling, really stinky diapers, etc.--so needless to say it has been a rough few days for all of us. After a very fussy afternoon today we went for a jog in the stroller which usually puts Drew right to sleep, but of course not today. After stopping to put his passy in or comfort him for what seemed like 100 times, Chloe looked at me said, "It's OK, Mommy. He wants me." And then she held his hand until he fell asleep. It was honestly the most touching moment I've witnessed since Drew was born--I don't know if it was the selflessness of her act (because you see, she had to give up her thumb hand to hold his hand), or the fact that she wanted to help me out because I was so frustrated...but either way, it was one of those moments when you forget about the crying, the lack of sleep, and all the frustration, and you think to yourself....this is worth it.

Painted Pumpkins!

Here is a picture of Chloe showing off her "little" pumpkin and Drew's "baby" pumpkin that she painted the other night. As excited as she was to go and pick out the pumpkins, she was even MORE excited to paint them! I was amazed at how much fun she had doing it. I think what made her enjoy it more was that she did it completely by herself, which is her latest thing. She has to do everything for herself. We're finding that it's much harder sometimes to let her try things on her own verses stepping in to help, especially when it comes to messy things! But that's why I set her up outside, with lots of paper towels and newspapers, and before Daddy got home! :) And the fact that I needed to nurse Drew right when she got started pretty much ensured that she had free reign! I personally think the pumpkins are true works of art...don't you?!

Daddy Days

Our babysitter's annual vacation began literally 3 days after I started back to work (how's that for timing!!) so Daddy stepped up and took some time off to stay home with the kids. It actually made the transition into full-time daycare a little easier for Baby Drew I think, and I know that the kids have loved all their Daddy time!! They had a special lunch with Gramps, trips to the park, and even a successful "number 2" on the potty for Chloe (I have to hand it to Brian...he waited in the bathroom with her for 20 minutes until she did it, but the wait paid off!). Each day Drew is able to do more and more things, and we are reliving the "fun baby days" (what we call months 3-9) all over again. Here are some pictures of Daddy with Baby Drew and Baby Drew taking his first ride in Chloe's swing in the backyard. Of course we loved every minute when Chloe was a baby, but now that we realize just how fast those days pass, I think that makes us cherish it even more with Drew. And although he'd never admit it, I think Brian is a bit worn out from his time at home, and may even be looking forward (gasp!) to going back to the office!

Pumpkin Patch!

We took Chloe and Drew to the "pumpkin patch" over the weekend--we couldn't believe how excited Chloe was when we told her about it. She talked about it all week long until it was time to go. Little did she realize that we were just going to a big farm that had a bunch of pumpkins to choose from, not the actual pumpkin patch (maybe we'll do that next year when we are a little more brave!). In any case, she was thrilled to pick out her own pumpkin. She even picked out a baby pumpkin for Baby Drew. We're going to decorate them later this week so stay tuned for pictures of Chloe's artwork!

Drew's Baptism

Here are some pictures from Drew's baptism this past Sunday! Drew did very well at church (minus a small crying outburst right before the ceremony!) and during the baptism....he even smiled at the priest when he was giving us instructions. Chloe is now a huge fan of going to church because she got a sucker during mass (my way to bribe her into being quiet!). Every morning since the baptism she says, "we're going to church today! get sucker!". I guess that's what happens when you break out the special treat--we'll never be able to go to church without suckers again! After the baptism we had a really nice afternoon back at our house with family--thanks to everyone who was able to make it, especially Julie & Adam! Drew is lucky to have such wonderful God-parents. And for those of you interested in seeing how much Drew looks like Chloe at his age, the first picture is of Chloe on her baptism. (I wanted to make it the last picture but I'm not skilled enough yet at this blog thing to get it in the right position!) I suppose it helps that they were both wearing the same gown!.

Zoo Visit

We took the kids to the zoo this afternoon along with Julie & Adam, who are in town for the weekend from Iowa for Drew's baptism tomorrow. We had a great time seeing all the animals, or at least as many as we could fit in before the zoo closed. I think Chloe's favorite were the elephants (as you can tell by the very serious look on her face in one of the pictures as she was watching an elephant walk towards her!), but if you ask her she says that the lions were her favorite...probably because they were the farthest away from her I'm guessing! We had a great day with Julie & Adam and I know Chloe & Drew did too!