Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween 2010

Oh how I love the Halloween season! Even though I wasn't quite as into it this year as I have been in the past (due to moving at the beginning of the month)...we still managed to fit in tons of fun stuff.

The middle of last week we had our ward's Truck or Treat party. Eliza was Sleeping Beauty this year and she has worn this costume almost nonstop since it arrived in the mail last week! I didn't feel like going on a hunt or fitting in the budget for a new costume for Chloe so she got to be a pink butterfly since we had it from Ellie wearing it as a baby. Anyway - back to our new ward's Halloween party. They had a chili and brownie cook off, face painting, carnival games, a costume parade and of course the trunk or treat! I was impressed that Chloe willingly kept most of her costume on during the party.




On Saturday we decided to carve our pumpkins that we got from the pumpkin patch/farm last week. Rob didn't want to participate so I got stuck doing most of the work and let's be honest - I'm not a great pumpkin carver! Eliza just stuck lights in her pumpkin. Next year we're going to get the Mr. Potato Head pumpkin attachments.





We finished off our celebrations by going over to some neighbors/ward members house for dinner and then a quick round of trick or treating in the neighborhood. It has been amazing weather - everyone told us to expect snow by Halloween but we've been enjoying 70 degree temps during the day. And tonight it was only in the 50's for trick or treating - not too bad! Rob and Chloe stayed home since Chloe has a cold and was in no mood or condition to be outside. I tried to get her and Ellie together for a picture and you can see the tears rolling down her face. Poor thing! Hopefully she feels better soon. (First picture is how happy she was earlier this week). And ONE of these days I will get a picture of my girls with both of them looking at the camera and smiling. One Day!!


Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Hiking & Pumpkin Patch

We took advantage of a beautiful Saturday a few weeks ago and decided to go on a little family hike at nearby Garden of the Gods. Such a beautiful place! Although the sun was out - it was really windy. I think so far this is my only major complaint about this place - there seems to be tons of wind in Colorado Springs.

Anyway - it was a beautiful hike/walk and we went to the nearby visitors center afterwards.





And then last Saturday we decided to go to Wishing Star Farm to their pumpkin patch. They had a little bullet train for kids to ride on, buckets full of dried corn, giant tires to climb on, a 100 ft gorge slide, a petting farm, and of course pumpkins to pick! While it was fun - it was SUPER windy and that translated into us being really cold. We hurried through the activities, grabbed our pumpkins and hightailed it out of there. I had the girls in matching outfits but you can't tell since we had to put jackets on fast! And of course trying to get a picture of the two girls both looking at me and smiling is nearly impossible.







And then just for fun - Chloe is having a hard time getting used to our crazy schedule lately:

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Chloe is 1!

Chloe Tenae turned one on October 14th! I still can't believe how FAST this last year has gone. Since we had just moved, we had a very low key celebration for Chloe but I don't think she minded. Chloe loved being sung "Happy Birthday" to all day long. After Daddy came home, we all went to the park near our house. Chloe laughs and laughs on the swing and loves going backwards down the slide. (Check out the views from the park!) (Such is the life of a second child....).




I made her a giant cupcake and she wasn't too sure what to do with it - but eventually got the hang of it! I was a little surprised since she has eaten plenty of treats already (so much different than Ellie at the same age). I thought for sure she would dig right in! Chloe got a Fisher Price piggy bank and a Fisher Price Learn and Play Kitchen for her birthday. Both of which I think big sister has played with more. (Such is the life of a second child....). Grandma and Grandpa Bodine sent her a fun little package that included a baby doll that Chloe adores - it has gone all over the house. And Aunt Kelley sent a princess crown that she thinks is pretty fun!









Just to document some things about Chloe at 1 year of age:

-Chloe has 10 teeth and is working on numbers 11 and 12 right now (molars).
-Chloe's favorite word to say (or rather yell) is Dad, Dada, Daddy
- Another favorite is "uh oh"
- She can say "ma ma" but reserves it most of the time
- Loves to wave hi and bye
- Is a little climber (already figured out the table and chairs)
- Thinks she can follow and do whatever her big sister is doing
- Has a very contagious laugh
- Loves to snuggle if she is in the mood but if she is not - definitely don't bother trying
- She is VERY opionated on what she wants
- Will do some sign language to get what she wants
- Throws huge temper tantrums if she doesn't get what she wants (including throwing her head back on whatever is behind her- Thinks she is a very big girl
- Still has hardly any hair
- LOVES to eat. There are very few foods that she doesn't like. Demands that you share with her. Especially if it's ice cream (totally my child) or candy (Rob's influence)
- Has been walking for a few months and is now working on the RUNNING
- Chloe has such a fun personality and keeps us busy. We are so glad she is part of our family!

Happy Birthday Chloe!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Life in Colorado

So far we are loving our new life in Colorado! We headed out here on September 28th with the help of Rob's dad and brother and a big ol' Penske truck. I didn't get a last picture in front of our house or of the moving truck. Oops. I was a little upset to be leaving the house that we have brought 2 babies into and started our married life together in! Luckily we still own it and we have great renters in it right now taking good care of it for us.

Anyway - we arrived late on September 28th and just unloaded stuff to sleep with that night. The next day we got the truck all unloaded. The unpacking part is still ongoing but we're making good progress.

We're very happy in our new neighborhood and the girls are enjoying our backyard while the weather is amazing right now. We're lucky to have lots of kids in the neighborhood and even some that live directly behind us. Ellie has been talking through the fence to the kids behind us and the mom and I are working on a playdate so they can play in person soon!





We've spent lots of time as a family and enjoying the beauty of Colorado Springs. Rob works right down the street from the beautiful Garden of the Gods so we've driven through a few times and had a picnic lunch there and plan to do some hiking soon.


Here are a few pictures of our new house (the rooms we have somewhat finished unpacking although decorating is still ongoing). My favorite by far is the basement aka girl's playroom. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to have all the toys in one space! We're still getting used to so much space since this house is twice the size as our last place.