By Request... More Daddy!

We had a request for "more pictures of Daddy - he's very photogenic!" Indeed, he is... but my photography skills left something to be desired this morning...

My lighting is all off and bad in this one, but I love how tall he looks, how little she looks in comparison to each other. Plus, what is that expression on Chloe's face?

I think this one is really sweet, but I wish that kid would have paid attention and either looked at the camera or at Daddy. Oh, well. I'll try again.

15.5 Weeks

All is well at 15.5 weeks - Chloe says, "Aye, aye, Captain!"

Mommy is starting to feel stressed and grumpy. Pregnant ladies don't do well, in 90+ heat. LOL

"I WILL GET YOU, DADDY, AND YOUR LITTLE DOG, TOO."

Camera-Ready!

Now, that I'm able to charge my camera again, we have a couple of photos from StoryBook Land:

Chloe really liked the car rides - this Monster Truck one and especially the one with little individual cars that went around a big track. She liked moving forward - not so much with the up and down. In fact, there was one ride that freaked her out so much that I had the lady stop the ride (luckily, we were the only ones on the ride).

She also really liked riding the train with Grams - the train goes all thru SBL and lets you see parts of the park that you actually can't get to on foot. That was really cool.

This weekend, the bathing beauty and I were back at the Swim Club. Watey! Chloe was a really big girl - she went under three times (once, she counted off to go under) and never cried, plus she was blowing bubbles and trying to kick. We played in the baby pool, too, with her toys, but it was too hot! Full immersion!

"I am not too sure about this..."

Yeah, not so much. It made her float on her back and she kept freaking out, so we didn't use this much.

Here she is, stealing Uncle Fuzz's fruit. It's a good thing they like her.

I Can't Find the Charger for my Camera

And it died when my mom and Chloe and I had been at StoryBook Land for only about 30 minutes. UGH. That was Saturday. So, no pictures of the James Taylor/Carole King concert last night (Happy Early Birthday, Mom!). My dad took a bunch of Chloe during the weekend with his camera, but he has not yet uploaded them. So, until I can either find my charger or get to Best Buy to get a new one (to share the few photos I did get), I have these two small ones from my cell phone. Oh, well.





The pregnancy is eating my brain, that's my only excuse.

Anyway, we had a great weekend with my parents. Chloe now says, "Cook! Cook!" when she sees my mother (since Grams always has cookies) and she's completely obsessed with Pah-Pah (which is how she says "Grampa"). What's interesting is that she says "Pop-Pop" very clearly when she sees Frank, but can't get the G sound, so my dad will have to be Pah-Pah.

Also, big kudos to the Hubs who is ROCKING our bedroom renovation project. And by "our" I mean that he is doing all the work, but I will sleep there, too, eventually, so it's mine, too. But, he's kicking serious booty. On Saturday while we had fun, he moved everything out of the bedroom by himself, removed the entire carpet and padding by himself, cut it all up and bagged it from the trash. By himself. In 90 degree heat. He is Hubs of the Year.

Maybe We Can Exhale...

Today, for the first time in 2 weeks, Chloe didn't cry at drop off. In fact, when I wasn't looking, she walked right past me to sit down at the table and get ready for her Cheerios. I gave her teacher a high five and did a little happy dance and Chloe looked back at me, like "Oh. You still here?"

Whew.

Yesterday, she cried when we LEFT school and she has started to make friends with the kids in her class (esp. Michael).

I gotta tell you - I didn't realize how depressed I was every morning until today when I was SO HAPPY. Yay!!!

It's Time for Ed to Hide My Copy of Steel Magnolias.

I have reached the point of pregnancy where television makes me weep uncontrollably. A repeat of House had me hysterical Monday night. I mean, I could not keep it together.

Ed: "But, it's just the television that's making you cry, right?"

Me: "Yyyyyesssss."

Ed: "What were you watching?"

Me: "H-h-h-owww-se."

Ed: "What happened?"

Me: "H-h-h-owww-se wuh-wuhs dddrunk annn-ann hee ccccalll..."

Ok, you get it. Suffice to say that when I described the episode, Ed nodded sympathetically with that look that said, 'I'm sure it would have made me cry, too, honey' which we all know is a lie. Anyway...

Ed said, "Well, that does sound really sad. Do you think maybe it's time for you to go bed?"

Me: "Yyyyyeessss."

Only 26 more weeks.

Chloe Post: Back from the Beach!

We are back from the beach and we had a great time! Aunt Diane and Uncle John are wonderful hosts and I had lots of fun with them, their kitties (especially Midnight who is my special favorite), Aunt Gretchen and Uncle Brian. We went for lots of walks, we played on the beach, I discovered scallops and ice cream sandwiches and enjoyed Aunt Diane's yummy baking.

Plus, I tan beautifully. Sadly, Mommy does not.

Daddy and I bunked together and we didn't leave any room for Mommy - she had to sleep by herself! I like to sleep horizontally. And right near Daddy. I'm sure he appreciated that.

Of course, one of the best parts was playing on the beach! Mommy got me these cool toys and I had lots of fun checking them out. There is a whole lot of watey at the beach, but it moves and is really big which is a little scary. Mommy tried to explain that it is not scary, but she doesn't know what she's talking about. I'll stick to the sand. At least for this summer.

The beach also has cute boys who run into the water with flotation devices and cute boys who sell ice cream. Mommy let me pick out an ice cream and I tried this ice cream sandwich. Ice cream sandwiches are REALLY GOOD.

I'm just FOOLING!!!!! I didn't really take a nap! Nope. Not me. I refused. But, I wanted to hang out with Aunt Gretchen (a lot) and I saw her lying on her tummy, so I thought I should do the same. Actually, Aunt Diane had to take me for a walk so that Mommy could catch a little nap... unfortunately, Mommy forgot to reapply! She got VERY sunburned and she said she felt so yucky that we couldn't go to the beach on Sunday, but that's ok. She and Daddy took me to a cool coffee house and got me some banana bread and then we went to the playground.

SLIDES! I love slides! There are other things there, but they mainly exist to hold up the slides.

I like to swing for about 30 seconds and then we went back to the slides - they are the best!

***

Mommy, Daddy and I want to thank Aunt Diane and Uncle John for such a fun weekend - it went by way too fast. I love the shore!

Chloe Post: The Road to Pancakes

If our new baby is a boy, Daddy wants to name him Gaius.

Mommy said no.

Daddy said that it's a majestic name.

Mommy said she didn't care.

Daddy said he loves the idea of his son being named Gaius.

Mommy said nothing was coming out of her with the name of Gaius, but Daddy can name our first pet that.

Daddy scoffed and continues to bring it up. ALL THE LIVELONG DAY.

Last night, Daddy said to Mommy that he wanted to go to IHOP for dinner to have pancakes.

Mommy said ok.

Daddy said, "Well, are you sure we have time?"

Mommy said yes.

Daddy was worried that Mommy wouldn't make it to card club on time and kept asking if she thought it would be ok because we could go another time.

Mommy said, "It will be fine. We'll go to IHOP."

Daddy said, "Are you sure?"

Mommy said yes.

Daddy said, "But are you sure?"

Mommy said, "YES. What my baby wants, my baby gets. We're going to IHOP."

Daddy said, "I want a son named Gaius."

Mommy said, "Too bad then that you're getting pancakes."

You know what they have at IHOP?

BLUEBERRY Pancakes. WITH BLUEBERRIES.

SCORE!

Yoga Update

She cracks me up, I tell you.

So, last night, I said to Chloe, "Is it time to eat or do you want to do some yoga?" And she said, "yoga!" I got the mats from the closet and she began to giggle, excitedly. I got us all set up and she laid down on her mat. For 30 seconds. I began to do some poses and then she wanted to crawl under me and thru my legs and sit on my mat, etc. I managed to get some good stretches in and then just gave her lots of hugs and kisses.

Figuring it was not the time for yoga, we had some food and played a little.

Fast forward to when Daddy comes in and sees the mats still out (I was thinking I might do a little more after she got to bed) and he says, "Wow - you guys doing yoga?!"

And then that little trickster goes right over to her mat and does child pose. And Daddy exclaimed, "Wow! That's really neat!" And so then she slides effortlessly into the beginning of flowy cat. And Daddy says, "Wow, Chloe - that's great!" And then she smiled her "aren't I the cutie" smile at Daddy and I just watched the whole thing in disbelief.

So, maybe Daddy has to be in the room for her to take it seriously! LOL

Working Mommy 2.0

So, this week I've been telling people at work about the December arrival of BT2 (what we're calling the baby until we know gender). I work with a wonderful group of people on an awesome project and I feel really lucky and excited about the work we do. And I won't lie, I was kind of scared to tell them about our new little bundle of joy.

Of course, I was scared for no reason - everyone was super excited and we have plenty of time to work out the details of my maternity leave and everything really is great. It was when I was on a call with a colleague today that I realized that so much of the pressures (for me) associated with being a "work outside the home mom," or WOHM as we are known on message boards far and wide, aren't really associated with my professional colleagues at all. Everyone I work with and for completely understand that family comes first, but that I am a professional who will work hard and get things done. This is a blessing, but before you think I'm getting off easy, let me tell you who DOES throw me the "oh, you're not a 'stay at home mom'" (SAHM, as they are called) curve balls:

Everyone else.

Last week, I waited about an hour past my appointment time for my 12 week pregnancy check up and I was apoplectic by the end. I was having a super busy day at work, but I still did what I was supposed to do and showed up early for the appointment like they tell you to do (so total wait time was closer to an hour and a half). The entire time I was waiting, I kept thinking about the work piling up on my desk and the small window of time I would have left to do it all in before I had to leave to pick up Chloe from day care. I called Ed afterward and tried to explain that I know how lucky I am that I get to be the one to carry our babies and feel them from the moment they are big enough to kick and get to know them before they are born and all of the amazing things that I get to do as the Mommy. But, some days, I just want to work. And he can do that. He can go to work and just work. And that's ok and we all expect that Daddies can and should do that. And if I was a SAHM, Chloe would have been in the office with me waiting for my appointment to finally happen and who cares? It would have been fine and we would have gone to lunch afterward.

And here's the thing: if it had been any other appointment (i.e. if I was not pregnant), I would have just left. Because you don't get to disrespect me and waste my time. You just don't. Except that you do because there's a baby in there. And I have to make sure he or she is ok and you people are the only ones who can tell me that. And so I wait. And fume. And look at the other women in the waiting room who are not looking anxious about rushing back to work and I hate them.

And it is hormones. It is. But then it is also spending 2 hours at the genetic screening place by myself and going to the lab to get blood drawn by myself and making endless appointments and knowing (from previous experience) that when BT2 does arrive and I feel like reaching out to other new mothers, I will find that the Mommy and Me groups in this area meet at 10am on Tuesdays and the Mommy and Me Get in Shape and Lose the Baby Weight Classes meet at 10am on Thursdays.

I don't mean to complain. I'm lucky - I've got a kickass job with awesome people and I leave every day at 5p to hang out with my awesome kid and husband and I never work weekends and we have dual incomes, great insurance and it's all really good.

But you SAHMs, man. You've got it good, too. You can be anywhere you want at 10am on Tuesdays and Thursdays.... and Mondays and Wednesdays and Fridays.

Chloe Post: OUTSIDE

I've said it once, I'll say it again: "outside is better than inside." Outside has trees and birds and kitties and watey and wind and flowers and watey and chalk and rocks and sticks and watey. Inside has Elmo. Now don't get me wrong, I am a girl that loves me some Elmo, but come on - how does one even compare to the thrilling drawing power of OUTSIDE.

The number one thing I love about being outside is access to watey. If I could get Mommy to put my pool in the living room so I could watch Elmo AND swim, that might be something. But, Mommy seems unwilling to bend on this. She also has a rule that I find really annoying: "When your lips are the same color as that bucket, we're going inside."

Inside sucks rocks.

On Sunday, Mommy thought it was going to rain, so she wouldn't fill my pool, but she did hook me up with some cool sidewalk chalk. It is awesome! YOU CAN WRITE ON THE GROUND. Right on the ground! And no one yells at you! The only drawback to sidewalk chalk is that when we are inside, Mommy hides it.

It's like I mentioned: inside sucks rocks.

Elmwood Park Zoo

On Saturday, Chloe and I picked up Miss Stella and Darius (one of Chloe's original friends from her old school) to head off to the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown. I wasn't sure how we would fare with 2 kids in the backseat, but minor toy skirmishes aside ("we share our toys"), all was well. Good practice for the Chloster who will no longer have anything to herself come December. LOL

Doesn't she look cute in her hat? That lasted 5 minutes.

Although she was a fan of pony rides last year, Chloe was entirely unsure about them this weekend. She made it around once with Willy and then made it clear that it was time to move on to the next attraction.

The Butterfly Garden! Whenever Chloe and I go anywhere that has a butterfly garden, we are inevitably there at the wrong season. So, I was really psyched that this one was open. When we got inside, Chloe kept looking around and saying, "Pretty!"

Of course, then she spotted a fountain, so she kept saying, "Watey!"

I love this picture. It's like they're saying, "How did we get here?"

None of the pictures I took of this elk really capture how cool-looking and majestic it was... although it was eyeing up that other elk. You know, the one without the fancy headwear. The female. From behind. Miss Stella and I exchanged a knowing glance and quickly steered the strollers in the opposite direction of possible elk-love.

These little guys were the collective favorite. The zoo has a really cool prairie dog area. This one was eyeing up Miss Stella like he wanted to jump her and she said, "Thanks God, he doesn't have wings!"

This is not an ostrich. It was called a reba or something. I can't remember. I hate birds. (Except penguins.) I only took a picture of this one because Chloe thought it was so funny. After this, we came upon the aviary. Which we did not go into because birds cannot be trusted.

Evidence of a well-spent morning.

***

Overall thoughts: 8 thumbs up to the Elmwood Park Zoo - lots of shade, great animals, a cool playground, cheap hotdogs and you are close enough to the animals that you can really get a good look (you should have seen the look on Chlo's face when the goat jumped up and put his front legs on the gate in front of her). Only downside: birds allowed to roam-free and terrorize. But, since I was the only one troubled by this, it's a fairly minor point.

Chloe Says it's a Girl

We have a bunch of photos to upload from this weekend (Elmwood Park Zoo, playing with sidewalk chalk, all kinds of things). I promise to get them up tomorrow, but in the meantime, we'll just share a photo from this morning:

Memorial Day Weekend: Captioned by Chloe

"These little flowers are fascinating. They smell good, they come right out of the ground without much prodding and they taste really good. Don't tell Mommy about that last part."

"Aunt Barb hooked me up with this tote filled with watey. I enjoyed it, but saw something out of the corner of my eye..."

"...More watey! Luckily, one of the big kids liked taking me in the pool. By 7pm, my lips were purple. I wanted to stay, but Mommy is so mean. She said we were done with the watey, so I did my protest pose and went limp and screaming. She said, 'ED, WE'RE ALL DONE. GET IN THE CAR. THANK YOU FOR HAVING US, BUT WE'RE ALL DONE. ALL DONE. TIME FOR BED. ALL DONE.' I think the heat was bothering her or something."

"The next day was fun, too - more watey! And lots of yummy snacks... it turns out that when you are my age, the adults think it's funny if you dip with your fingers instead of with veggies. SUCKERS."

"Cookies are good, too. C is for Cookie AND for Chloe."

"Ah, watey! For some reason, there are no pictures of me in the big pool, but that's ok - this baby pool was pretty fun, too. Sam is teaching me how to swim."

"This isn't my toy. But, I want it."

Thanks, Aunt Jennifer

We have lots of fun photos from our busy Memorial Day weekend - lots of friends, family and "watey" as Chloe refers to "water." But, while Mommy is searching out that elusive camera cord (and dealing with having dropped the Muppet off at her new school for the first time), here are some teaser photos, provided by Aunt Jennifer. That damn Farm Days event was cancelled AGAIN, but at least we got some cute pics.