We're Back: Captioned by Chloe

Whew. I know it's been awhile since we've updated and even longer since we've posted pictures... and I know Grams and Mom-Mom are probably chomping at the bit! But, between searching for a new school for Chloe (we found out last week her school is closing its doors this summer), dealing with a cold (Mommy) and being tired (all of us, save Chloe), we've been having quite a week. But, we're back to present you with another edition of "Captioned by Chloe." Enjoy!

"Here I am with Aunt LuLu - she's really funny! She has these cool braids that she let me pull and she kept saying that she loves me. I love her, too! I also love Uncle Jesse - he came to dinner, too, and he loved Mommy's cooking... and he knew who Elmo was! That's pretty important in my book."

"I didn't go to this event, but Mommy said it was pretty important - Aunt Diane won a dean's award for exemplary achievement in her clinical work! She helps babies. We love that."

"Daddy says I'm a really good helper! I like to get involved whenever he gets his tools out. I did a good job keeping the packing material out of his way while he built our new TV stand."

"I like to eat styrofoam."

"I *really* wanted to play with that drill! But, they wouldn't let me!!"

"While Daddy was working, Mommy and I decided to do some yoga. She said she was going to try some downward dog, so I brought her this toy."

"On Saturday, we went to 2 birthday parties! Whew! I love parties - especially when there are balloons!"

"This is GiGi. She is 6, which is really old."

"Mommy and I tried to go to Farm Days, but it was rained out! She let me play in a little bit of dirt and run around the trail for awhile... that was not as fun as the horses and sheep she promised, but she distracted me! That Mommy is quick!"

"Whoot!"

Namaste

So, I've been trying to get back into doing yoga. I really enjoy it and I'm trying to add exercise back into my life in ways that don't depress me. However, whenever I try to do some yoga poses around Chloe, she laughs and climbs under me (she especially likes downward-facing dog) and turns to peek up at me and giggle.

My friend, Melanie, suggested that perhaps Chloe needs to feel part of the yoga experience in her own regard. So, I bought the muppet her very own yoga mat. Mine is purple, with some cool design on it. Hers is blue and is covered with turtles.

She was intrigued right away, as she watched me roll out the two mats and lay them side by side. I found some free yoga on demand (I heart Fios) and we were off to the races! We all did the first pose: the lady on TV, me on my mat and Chloe on hers... and I foolishly thought, "Ah ha! Problem solved!"

After one pose, though, Chloe was ready to do yoga WITH me. On my mat... and by "do yoga with me," I really mean "laugh and climb under me, turning to peek up and giggle." Over and over and over again as if Mommy in downward dog = tunnel for Chloe. Then, she started moving her mat all around and I thought, "Well, I could put her back on the mat and try to get her to start paying attention, but how inappropriate to try to define someone else's yoga experience."

Then, she started trying to grab my mat and move it around and I thought I should employ reverse psychology. So, I abandoned my mat in favor of hers and returned to the series of poses. Chloe stopped what she was doing, came onto the mat, stamped a foot and said, "MINE." Okie dokie. So, I returned to the purple mat... and she followed me! I tried employing the same technique: "MINE," but she looked at me as if I had taken complete leave of my senses... as if to say, "Silly, Mommy - your stuff is mine, too!"

Anyway, I made it thru the 15 minute routine and did most of it. Chloe did one pose and then her own version of cardio. Finally, I sat on my mat to take a deep breath and she brought over some books for me to read to her. So, we snuggled and read.

BUT.

She did do one pose.

And this morning, she tried to line the mats up on the floor and didn't want to leave... so I promised her we would do more yoga tonight.

So, I think we can safely call this a start.

"Namaste, Chloe."

"Namaste, Mommy."

Finally - Mother's Day 2010

Mommy finally got around to uploading these photos!

Don't we look nice? We had a yummy brunch with Daddy and Mom-Mom and then we went shopping.

Mommy is silly.

Here I am with Daddy and Mom-Mom. Don't they look so happy to spend the day with me?

She was excited that I wore this pretty dress from Grams, because yellow is her favorite color! Mom-Mom and I matched... of course it's hard to keep party dresses clean, so I had to change clothes when we went to Aunt Joanne and Uncle Craig's house for dinner...

Scott always wears this hat and he let me play with it.

Peek-a-boo!

Mother's Day is hard work. Patty and I needed a rest.

Where are all those Mother's Day pictures?

I know that Grams and Mom-Mom are sitting at their respective computers and thinking, "Where the heck are all those Mother's Day photos of that adorable baby?" (And, no - they don't mean of Ed.)

Well, we do have plenty of pictures. But, after a truly wonderful weekend, the Chloster suffered a setback yesterday... she was rocking a temp of 102 while teething and was abso-freaking-lutely miserable. And so was I. And so was Ed. She is doing much better, I am back at work and Ed is home with her for one more day of relaxation... but I don't know where my camera or camera cord are, but I suspect they are both on the dining room table. I swear, I need a maid just to handle the dining room table.

Anyway, to recap my fun-filled Mother's Day weekend:

Friday - I ditched the Muppet and Muppet Daddy and went shopping with Lucinda at the outlets in Pottstown where I purchased a lovely Coach tote for myself. FABulous.

Saturday - Chloe and I hung out while Daddy worked and then I dropped her at Mom-Mom's so Daddy and I could go out by OURSELVES. We went to a pub and we were half-way thru a plate of wings when he said, "I'm not going to lie - It's kind of nice that she's not here. Is that bad?" And I said, "No way. If she were, she'd totally try to take our wings."

Then, we went to the AMC Marple to see Iron Man 2, but we couldn't because their power was out! Luckily, we made it in to see it at the Granite Run Mall - which I was able to find without my GPS. (I know where it is, but not from where I WAS, don't judge me.) It was AWESOME. Ed liked it more than the first, but I don't know about all that. Couple of things for Jon Favreau: 1) Pepper was all whiney-looking and annoying. Try to fix that in the next movie. 2) If you are going to use all AC/DC music, you should have totally used "Have a Drink on Me" because that should be Tony Stark's theme song. 3) We like Don Cheadle. Thanks for making that switch. And a tip for you if you haven't seen it yet: stay thru the credits, because there is a teaser that you will want to see. If you don't know what the item in the teaser is, let me know because I can tell you... because Ed explained it to me. Heh.

After the movie, we ran into the mall because I needed wrapping paper and after Hallmark, Ed said, "Let's go in here and get something for Mommy" and I looked up and it was a jewelry store! I got two new charms for my bracelet and Ed picked out this neat bangle bracelet with an amethyst on each end. Yay for me!

Sunday - In the morning, we took Mom-Mom out for brunch at Ruby Tuesday's and walked around the mall a bit. Ed prevented a young ne'er-do-well from stealing stickers out of a book at the bookstore and I bought Chloe a small Dalmation toy from the Disney Store. She woofs at it. It's a riot.

Poor Ed had to work Sunday night, so Chloe and I went to see Aunt Joanne and Uncle Craig and company for a very yummy dinner. I remember thinking that it was odd that Chloe didn't want to eat much, but in retrospect it makes sense... I think her mouth was starting to bother her. So, we came home and went to bed. I was so exhausted, I couldn't even watch the gut-wrencing episode of Brothers & Sisters that ABC was promising. Oh, well.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who made my Mother's Day so wonderful... and Happy Mother's Day to Grams, Mom-Mom, Aunt Joanne, Aunt Patty, Mom-Mom Faust... and I promise I'll get those photos up soon!

Playing in the Morning

Wow. Chloe was full of energy Thursday morning. Mommy was so not, but that's a whole other story. Anyway, she was all over the place. She had dragged her little doll bed into our room earlier in the week, so she tucked Panda in with a blanket, but then she found a diaper and decided Panda should wear it. So, I helped her with that, she gave Panda a hug, removed the diaper, went to the bathroom and threw it in the diaper genie.

Then, she tried to repeat the process, but once it goes in the genie, it's out of play, per Mommy.

Then, we came downstairs and she started pushing Pooh around in the stroller before abandoning him for her grocery bag and pail.

She loves this pail and many a day we have taken it in the car with us (like it's her purse) when we go to school. Eventually, she abandoned the pail for her little suitcase, so that was her purse for the day. LOL

This was all before I had even managed to make her lunch. If she has all this energy, she should start making MY lunch.

Hey, Chlo... do you have anything to say to our readers?

"CHEEEE"

Chloe Post: It's all about the Benjamins

Grams sent me this pretty purse and it had money in it!

Look - money!

Mommy has explained that money is for the bank and not for the mouth, so she got me this little Monkey Bank. At first, it was hard to use, but now I understand it better. I will confess that I did put one quarter in my mouth, just to see what it would be like, but Mommy caught me! (She always does.)

Eventually, I realized that Grams was not playing! There was a lot of money in there, so I had to sit down before I finished putting everything into my bank. Later, I dragged the bank into Daddy's office to show him how rich I am. That bank is getting heavy.

Chloe is Ready for Her Close Up, Mr. DeMille

When I brought Chloe home from the hospital, my colleagues from Burness Communications sent us this adorable jumper from Hanna Anderson. It was, of course, way too big for a newborn, but I had no idea what size it was because they are all freaky and European with their sizes. So, I would occasionally hold it up to her and say "Nah, not yet."

Well, it finally fits! So, I thought I would take a photo to send to Janet to thank her again for sending such a cute gift.

Chloe was of a different mindset.

She preferred to do close ups.

And when I said, "Come on, Chlo - smile," she threw her head back and said "CHEEEE" which I can only imagine they taught her at school:

So, sorry, Janet, it didn't work out. But I think we can all agree that this is the cutest thing EVER.

May's 3-Day Walker

As you know, each month, our family is sponsoring a walker in the upcoming Breast Cancer 3-Day. We will choose a walker each month through October and provide a link to their individual donation page. Each month, the first one of you to donate (and then comment back to us that you did so), will get a little something from Chloe as a thank you for supporting the cause.

And remember - no donation is too small. If everyone in America gave $5, this damn thing would be cured already.

This month's walker is Heather Bonaventure who is walking here in Philadelphia. Click here to make a donation to her walk... and then rush back here and leave us a comment.

Busy Weekend: Captioned by Chloe

"Here I am, looking sassy (like I do), all ready for the Sapphire Sunset. Let's GO. It's time to party."

"This is Beth, my BFF. She helped Mommy plan the Sunset fundraiser and bought me my cool shades. She understands that I like to have big girl things."

"The Fam. We had a really nice day, but Daddy said the only beer was Miller Lite, which sucks. I couldn't tell you because, guess what? He didn't share."

"After all that 'fundraising,' Daddy had to sleep in, so Mommy and I did errands on Sunday."

"First, Panda and I played in the backyard. Mommy tried to show me how to blow grey things off weeds, but that's lame. I grabbed them in my hand and mashed them into oblivion and that's better."

"When we were out, Mommy made us go to 2 stores until we found this blue thing. I had no idea what the heck she intended to do with it and gave her a couple of glares to explain my feelings. Then, she made me change clothes. Again, I glared at her. But, then she and Daddy got this long green thing from the side of the house and then I started to understand. 'Water! Water!'"

"I love water. I love to drink it, throw it, splash it. All water is good."

"Mommy got me these cool tools from Target for me to use with my water. When I see them in the house, I call 'Water!' so she knows I would rather be swimming."

"This is my belly."

The end.

She's Only Seventeen... Err, or 35. Either Way.

So, a week and a half ago, I called in to Spike's radio show on 94 WYSP and won tickets to see Kip Winger in an acoustic performance at "The Cube: An 80s Dining Experience."

When I called my husband and told him of my excitement, he said, "Who's Kip Winger?" And I said, "DUH - of the 80s rock band, WINGER?!" And he said, "that doesn't help me." I then filled his email with Mp3s... to which he responded, "that's white people music."

Sigh.

Clearly, I was in search of a co-pilot for this adventure. And here's the thing about last week: almost all of my friends were on vaca... (or too young to appreciate one Kip Winger). I mentioned my dilemma to Lucinda, also slated for vacation. And when I described the charming way I won the tickets, the fact that the show was in Newark, DE at an 80s-themed dive bar and the fact that I had no partner in crime, she burst out laughing and boldly declared, "Oh, I will change my plans for this! It's on!"

Whoot.

That's Kip Winger. He was so close, we could have totally jumped him on stage if we were still of the age of doing such things. Luckily for Kip Winger, we are not.

Before I discuss Kip (and that smile which he still has - oh), we have to discuss venue. Picture the dive-iest dive bar you've ever been in and then fill it with curio cabinets that are teeming with Alf dolls and Star Wars action figures and Rainbow Brite dolls (I had that one) and as many other 80s filled accessories as you can imagine. We knew we had found the ladies room because Ms. PacMan was on the door. In other words, it was FREAKIN' AWESOME.

In a way that the opening band, ROAR, so wasn't. Man. I mean, MAN. It was not good. They played two songs that didn't suck - a Hendrix cover and (surprisingly) a Monkees cover. Their lead singer has neither a good voice nor the ability to stay in key, which means that I could be a lead singer. But, their guitar player was decent and we were sitting near the video games, so each song was punctuated with the sound of Space Invaders. So, that was cool.

You know what else was cool? KIP WINGER. I liked Winger back in the day, but I was not the die hard fan that many in the audience were (and boy were they - the audience should be a post all on it's own, but I'm afraid some of them might track me down and cut me). I knew the songs from the radio, but didn't own any CDs... now I wish I had. Lucinda and I were both really blown away by his skills as a musician. He played an instrumental that was just amazing. Yeah, he's got the look of a rock and roll guy and the hair and all that, but the dude can sing and even more impressive, the dude can PLAY. (In fact, he writes for the San Francisco Ballet.)

The other thing that I didn't anticipate was that he was really funny. When Ginger (my GPS) told us, "you have reached your destination" and Lu and I frantically looked around to find the place, we both bust out laughing. I said, "Don't you feel bad for Kip Winger (because the venue was so small)?" But, I tell you, it was really a great evening because he was so relaxed with the crowd, kept cracking jokes, did a bit of improv and even sang a duet with a Cube-regular who won a karaoke contest for the privilege. So, it was really a good time... and if I lived in Newark, DE, I would totally go to the Cube.

One thing to know about Lu and I is that we do this really weird Kiss-inspired-rock-and-roll-tongue-out pose at any picture taking opportunity. Like at my wedding when she was the maid of honor, causing my mother to call out, "OH, that's NICE. HOW PRETTY" in a very sarcastic way. Anyway, I mention this only to prep you for this:

Which caught the attention of a bouncer in a way that I really did not anticipate. "I can totally get you girls closer if you want." And Lucinda and I looked at him in utter confusion because 1) any closer and I'd be sitting on Kip Winger's shoulders and 2) we're so not hot anymore and 3) what would such a favor cost because 4) EWWW.

To sum up, AWESOME evening thanks to Kip Winger, Spike, WYSP and my partner in crime for so many adventures previous and future: Lucinda.

P.S. Texts to the Hubs Throughout the Evening:

Me: "Omg venue is next to a dollar store. Lmao"
(no response)

Me: "Roar sux. Lol"
(no response)

Me: "There are 2 black people here!" (In response to his previous assertion)
(no response)

Me: "Im leaving you for Kip Winger."
Him: "Bye"

Me: "Just kidding Hubs! xoxo"

P.P.S. from Chloe

Don't worry about not inviting ME to be your co-pilot. I didn't WANT TO GO. So there. Daddy and I had fun by ourselves. WITHOUT YOU.