Chloe's first Swim Lessons

I've been terrible at blogging....but really it's only because we haven't downloaded pictures in a week so I didn't have anything new. However, I'll get back on track with a quick pool update! Chloe LOVED swimming last summer so when we heard about the "Shrimp" swim classes at the YMCA we figured it would be a fun family activity. Our class is 8 weeks long and started the second weekend in January. Chloe does great in the water and is really a quick learner. I love that she isn't scared of the water and that we can have so much fun with her in the pool.

Here are a few pictures:

Chloe swimming after the floating balls:












Chloe going under with Daddy:

Camp Karen

Just a quick post for my blog readers in camp Karen. The first is me with my Dad's Mom probably in 1981. The second is Chloe with my Mom! Click the pictures for larger views. I'm still not sure how anyone is in Camp Karen...the resemblance is just sooo little but I know some people really think Chloe looks like me. So here you go:














My Mom made a quick trip to Austin and we had so much fun. I just LOVE having my Mom for a visit. It's so hard to decide between time with my Mom and free babysitting to go on dates and run errands. I think we got a good balance of both. And my hip Mom wore her slouch boots to church on Sunday and played Beatles Rock band with us. If I didn't make her laugh she was killer on the drums. We also had a swinging contest (video to follow soon). Chris was supposed to be the judge but of course didn't want to "choose" a winner. Chloe loves her Gigi and Callie too!

More updates coming soon!

10 months - total denial

Chloe's 10 month birthday hit the start of this week and to say I am in total denial is an understatement. Until now I felt like she was still my little baby and that she had still been in my womb longer than she had been out in the world. However, I feel this month like a kangaroo who's baby has left the pouch. She is now older outside the world than she ever was in my belly. I recognize all of this may sound bizarre but it was my little way of holding on to "baby" as long as I could. However, Chloe's 10 months and growing up way too fast!!

In the past month she has been eating more finger foods on her own including peas and black beans (a favorite for her not a favorite for the diaper changers!), crawling faster, pulling up more, trying to walk (but hasn't yet), started dancing, had her first swim class, loves to turn pages on books, likes to give her baby doll kisses, loves hide and seek, laughs when we laugh as she is socially aware of more interactions, loves to wave hello and goodbye, said what we'll count as her first word that she connects meaning with: "doggie" (sorry Chris, a dog just HAS to be in our future, she LOVES them), got her two top teeth in for a total of 4 teeth, likes to ride in her wagon, clicks her tongue, pooped in the tub, loves to knock over blocks and roll the ball, and on her 10 month day exactly she started clapping her hands...and now LOVES any chance to clap.

And....she's still a peanut. I weighed her with clothes on just to have some idea of how we were...err weren't progressing. She's still 16 pounds. I promise, she eats....she just plays lots too!

Here's her months pictures:















And, if you'd like to see the whole progression, check here:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3157540&l=53532ff822&id=710737489

Just because...

Chloe's 10 month birthday was yesterday...and I've got the awaited bear pictures coming soon, I promise! But in the meantime, University of Texas has been at the top of our blog long enough...

Here's a few fun Cupcake updates:

A week ago Joshua came over for dinner and playing while his parents went out for dinner. We let them have a little dinner date of their own. Clearly Chloe is thrilled beyond measure. Not sure if Joshua was as enthused. We've never seen her act like she did at dinner. She watched his every bite and squealed between each of hers. It was sooooo funny. Click this picture (really any of them can be clicked anytime) to see her pure joy in full view!












And for those (me included) that are in Camp Chris (the camp of folks that think Chloe looks like Chris) here's another goodie for you:

A new appreciation for Colt McCoy

I can't even believe I am going to post about the University of Texas...but I am. I will always be a fan of the Big 12 in the National Championship. I don't care who is there. I also spend much of football season talking down the OU haters in Austin reminding them to be Pro-Big 12. Most of them agree I am right in the end and revise their comments. Sadly many of my OU peeps were as ugly yesterday as Texas fans usually are. I'm going to have to give them the Big 12 talk. Or perhaps Texas and OU fans should just follow the lead of their QB's.

Anyway, I am sure you all know the outcome of the game and the headline of the game so there is no need to rehash that here. You may not know that Jordan Shipley and Colt McCoy were roomates :). Ok, seriously...what I wanted to say was I loved being a horn fan last night. It was amazing to see the "other" side of Texas. I too have been a Texas hater in my life but the reality is they are a classy group of guys. They never gave up. They fought with all they could. AND...in the end they sincerely congratulated Alabama. They brought the message we forgot...this is just football and there is a bigger rock to stand on.





I have nothing but admiration for Colt McCoy. I honestly don't think I could have or would have reacted with such faith. I would have just had a pity party. I hope that he continues to find success and a place in the spotlight so that he can continue to point to the true giver of his gifts. These are the kinds of heros that deserve to win.

And in the mean time, he has a new cheerleader:














Well done Colt McCoy. I pray we haven't seen the end of you. Gilbert, I'll be cheering you on. In 2014, I'll be watching you win the National Championship and I'll tell Chloe about the first time you took the field. It wasn't easy, but you didn't give up.

Hook 'em.

2 special bibs!

I am still catching up on Christmas both at home and on the blog. So bear with me as Christmas 09 is still alive and kicking for the Crack Team.

Chloe received two very special bibs to wear during the Christmas season.

Bib one - From Courtney in Arizona. Her Grandmother taught her to cross stitch years ago. Now her Grandma has passed on but Courtney remembers how to stitch and made Chloe this ADORABLE Christmas bib. It says "Believe" on it. I was soooo touched by her thought and time. Chloe looked so cute in it and it looks like it will be able to fit again next year too so this won't be the last time you see this sweet bib. Thanks Courtney!
















Bib two - Came all the way from Hong Kong!!! My friend Noel sent it to us. I used to work with Noel and we got to email EVERY day. Now we don't get to be in touch as often so I miss her so much! She was so sweet to remember this was Chloe's First Christmas and send a Baby's First Christmas Bib all the way from Hong Kong. I was so surprised and thankful. Thank you Noel!!
















I am sooooo lucky to have such kind and loving people in our life. Both of these bibs were worn with thought of people who love us. THANK YOU! I can't say it enough!!

Chloe's first snow...and her first REAL snow.

Now that our Christmas cards should be safely in your hands, I can post a few pictures I've been holding back! In early December it SNOWED in Austin. Just to be clear this was real live snow, falling for about 20 minutes. Not hail, not sleet...snow. Of course it didn't stick but it was snow so I'm counting it as Chloe's first snow. I bundled her up and took her outside. We could hear so many kids screaming with joy in the distance...for my non-Texan blog stalkers: you'll have to remember snow is soooo rare here that it's worth screaming about.

Chloe was precious in the snow. She'd look up to see the white fluffy stuff and squint really hard as if I was pouring water in her face. Then she'd realize it wasn't quite that intense and open her eyes really wide as if trying to take it all in. Then a snowflake would land on her and she'd squint really tight again. I have absolutely know idea where this one extreme to another drama could be coming from...
















Over Christmas when we went from Kentucky to Indiana Chloe got to see her first REALLY BIG snow...like a true white Christmas snow! I'm glad she got to see both. Though she won't remember either they made for some super cute snow pictures. Check out Chloe in her white Christmas. (And special thanks to Gigi for the jacket. I almost didn't think we needed one!)

Beware of Bitter Biscuits...

As promised, I have more posts and stories coming about Christmas....

We just had to get our Christmas cards out first. Today they are all officially on the way. Yes, they say Merry Christmas. No, they don't also say Happy New Year. Yes, this is slightly embarrassing. No, I can't promise it won't happen again. We're the Crack Team...shamelessly imperfect and unkempt. Remember?

Sooooooo Bitter Biscuits.

On our 12.78 hour stint in Kingwood before flying out to Louisville my Mom hands me a box of EarthBaby Organic bitter biscuits and says, "Have you tried these with Chloe?" We hadn't. She then asks "Could she have one?" Pause for one moment: Can I just say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE that my Mom respects me as a Mom enough to ask my opinion on stuff. I have so many friends who's Mom's would just give their children whatever they thought is best without asking. If you are a friend's Mom reading my blog, heed this as your warning....you won't get Mom/Grandma of the year with that behavior. Love you, Mom....you make me believe (however untrue) that I really can do this Mom thing!

Ok...back to Bitter Biscuits (BB's for the remainder of this post). So, I tell Mom to go ahead and give her a BB. I can't quite tell you what happens over the next 10 or so minutes. It might have been that I was enjoying (read:devouring with no manners) a DELICIOUS meal made even more delicious because I did not have to make it and did not have to be in charge of Chloe while I ate it. I may have also been busily arranging Christmas gifts for our exchange that was about to take place. Or I may have just had one of those "Mom" moments. All that to say, I didn't see how the bitter biscuit went down, I just noted that we should pack those for the plane. And we did.

The next day we flew to Louisville and Chloe did GREAT. We didn't have to resort to all the tricks in my diaper bag (BB's included) because it was a quick flight in which we all slept, watched one short movie, and then basically prepared for landing. So, we then got settled into Grandma Sally's house and all took another nap. We woke up, showered, and got dressed much faster that we usually pull ourselves together so that we could make the 6pm Christmas Eve service. Here is what Chloe looked like:














We get to the service, take a seat towards the back, on an aisle. I have learned a few things about being a Mom :). The service starts...the bells, the advent candle...really a beautiful traditional service. Then the pastor calls the kiddos up to the front. Since we don't have "children's church" as part of the Gateway services I was so excited for Chloe to get to partake in something that was a mainstay of my childhood church going memories. Up we went...she basically crawled all over Chris and I and looked at the other little girls dreaming of when she could have long hair.

Then we go back to our seats and Chloe is done with church and hungry. So, since church wasn't done Chris comes to the rescue with...a BB!!! He unwraps it, hands it to her and all is well again. A few minutes later communion starts. We agree that Chris will go up with his Mom and Chloe and I will stay in the pew. No sooner did Chris and his Mom start up the long aisle to get in the long line for communion did I realize the truth about BB's. They are a HUGE dissolving mess! Imagine if you sucked on a graham cracker without ever taking a bite....only denser and more dissolving-er. BB gunk was all over her hands and with each smile and coo of delight a little more drooled out of the corners of her previously precious gummy smile and onto her velveteen Christmas dress. I'm stranded. I can't reach the diaper bag without leaning down the aisle and risking BB gunk drool on the new (did I mention this was a brand new sanctuary?) velvet pew cushions.

Hours later (ok....just moments but it was one of "those" moments) the people in the row in front of us start coming back. I sigh relief knowing Chris would be soon after. As they enter the pew but still from a distance they start to say "isn't she cute?"....but as they get closer and see the mess they pause a little and "cute" is more forced out and comes with the layers of judgement that must have been heaping on a Mom who gives her baby a BB in their brand new church. Thankfully we were miles from home and knowing I would NEVER see these people again I could careless what they thought of me and our BB mess. Next the people in the row behind us are coming back. I don't know whether they cut in line, Chris was up there confessing both of our sins, or if God,who knows I am a hard learner wanted to make sure I learned about BB's. But, of course as they are entering the pew Chloe turns to watch them...and they too start to say how cute she is...of course she smiles. I've trained her well. Only this time the smile as previously mentioned includes a dripping of BB gunk out of the corners. So, I feel the drippage making it's way down my right shoulder. Perfect. Now I get to have BB mess too!!!

Finally I see Chris coming. In my head I'm yelling HURRY UP, I NEED WIPES NOW!!! But I'm also reminding myself it's Christmas! My husband has just cleansed himself at communion. We're in church. And...of course I want to maintain my perfect wife, we can handle anything appearance. Ha. Ok....not that last one but I did want to respect my husband on Christmas. Soooo, I opted for the whispered version as he sits..."I need wipes. Please." He grabs them as he gets a closer look at what has transpired since he left and starts mopping us both up with wipes as the choir sings Away in A Manger. Thank you Jesus for the reminder that even the most precious babies lay in managers among livestock. Surely we can be forgiven for our BB gunk-ified Christmas Angel in this pretty church!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Chloe loves Christmas! Or more properly, we loved sharing Christmas with her!!

We traveled to Houston for a quick overnight stay so we could have a direct and shorter flight to Louisville. With less that 12 hours to work with my Mom and Dad still managed to make an awesome pork tenderloin dinner and shower us and Chloe with Christmas presents a few days early.

Christmas Eve morning we flew to Louisville. We had a great trip and Chloe continues to do pretty well on the flight though we anticipate that to change as soon as she can walk. We had a great five days in Kentucky! Sally, my Mother-in-law, (MIL for all future mentionings) has the gift of hospitality. She had gathered lots of toys and books for Chloe from some of her friends who are also Grandmothers. She also had yummy Christmas cookies out for non-stop grazing. Not great for my waist line but oh so delish! She had decorated a tree and put it in a playpen so that Chloe could enjoy it without pulling it over. She also had an open house the day after Christmas so we could see a whole bunch of Chris's friends at once. Several of them have little ones now too so there were giggles, hugs, and a good time had by all. Finally, and most impressively, my MIL made baby food! I was so thankful that she was willing to go to Whole Foods for organic produce and then make some familiar treats for Chloe. I am really so thankful for all of Sally's efforts for making us feel at home, special, and able to enjoy our first Christmas with Chloe all at the same time.

Here are a few highlights:

Chloe meet Great-Grandmother Farr:













Four Generations:













With Aunt Robyn:

















On Christmas morning:













Big Family Shot from our day trip to Indiana:











I've got some other pictures and a few more stories, I'll post soon. We're trying to get our Christmas cards out (late, late, late). But I wanted to get at least one update up and say we had a GREAT Christmas and really enjoyed our time in KY. Thanks Sally for a great trip!