special day out

today after a family trip to the playground, I asked Chloë if she wanted to go out for lunch with just mommy, and that we could have a special date, just us girls, we'd go have some lunch, maybe some ice cream, and after we could go to the store and she could pick one toy. Her face lit up, and she asked me, just to be sure, I think, "mommy and Chloë? No daddy, and no Lucas?" I smiled and confirmed that it'd be just us. She was almost out the door before I could even grab my purse, without any shoes on or jacket. I reminded her to put her shoes on, and we quickly put on her jacket. Right before she was about to walk out the door, she did a double take and looked at daddy on the couch and ran to him for a "big hug and a kiss."

Soon after, we were on our way. Her excitement and giggles were all I needed to make this sunshining day even brighter. We ate amidst laughs and jokes, and throughout she kept saying she was going to get a new baby for her new toy. Mind you, she has over 10 babies already. We walked over to get some ice cream, and stopped by the girl scouts' stand and bought some tagalongs. She skipped towards the ice cream parlor hugging her box of cookies "Mine cookies!" She had cotton candy ice cream with M&M's, but barely finished it, because she couldn't contain the excitement of what was to come "I want to go get my new baby!" So off we went.

She is smarter than I give her credit for, and she managed to pick the one box that had not one, but two babies, they were twins, so for the price of one toy, you got two babies! I think that was a little too much excitement for her, because as she looked at all the displays with only one 'baby dolly', she couldn't understand why anyone would pick anything other than the one with "TWO babies!!" Before we paid, she asked me "Lucas get a new toy, too?" So I told her to pick something for him, I thought it was just so sweet that she would think of him. She choose a box of little books, Toy Story books, or as she calls it "Cowboy movie." It was only once we got home, and we finished showing daddy her new baby dollies, that I realized, the toy for Lucas was really just another toy for her. "Chloë, show daddy what we picked out for Lucas." "Lucas no toy, mommy, Chloë got new toys, baby and Cowboy books!"

So, it was really the perfect outing for her. And for me. I have missed having my baby girl just to myself, all by myself. Thanks for a perfect day, Chloë.

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Sunday morning in the backyard

Despite being cooped up as bed rest continues, I still find ways to enjoy summer, and more importantly, to indulge my little pumpkin in one of her favorite things of all time--to play outside! Every weekend morning it's the same thing after breakfast "Mommy, Daddy...outsiiiiide" "Outsiiiiide, peeeeeas" "I wan outsiiiiide"...and we just can't resist.

So, this is what we did on Sunday morning. Several hours of outsiiiiide!

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a princess in NYC

This past weekend we took a road trip to NYC to visit my dad and his wife. As an added bonus my oldest sister and her son were there as well. What should have taken us 4 1/2 hours ended up taking 7, and towards those last couple of hours, not even Dora the Explorer could entertain Chloë who desperately wanted out of her carseat and kept pleading with me "Mommy, peeeeas!" Once we finally arrived at the hotel, way past her dinner time and bedtime, she was SO excited to get out of the car, she forgot all about being tired and hungry. While I tried to think quick and order some dinner so we could put her to bed, Chloë made quick friends with Max, and the two of them ran all around the suite. By the end of her dinner, she was completely comfortable with everyone and slightly annoyed when we took her to bed. She crashed pretty quickly a little before 9pm (!!) and Josh and I joined everyone for a terrific dinner at the Post House.

The weekend was pretty full of activities, much of which involved Chloë constantly wanting to wear her new princess costume and crown, as Max ran around in his Star Wars get up. We went to the Central Park Zoo, and walked around, and played with ducks, and Chloë was even treated to a fancy shopping spree and made out with 4 beautiful dresses!

On Monday morning when we were getting ready to leave slightly after breakfast, she started to get moody, and I think she had a feeling that the free-for-all weekend theme of being able to do anything she wanted and get away with it all was coming to an end. She gave everyone goodbye kisses and loudly waved "byeeeeee! byeeeeee!"

Thankfully, the drive back took us the expected 4 1/2 hours, and in the evening everyone was asleep by 8pm.

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weekend fun!

This weekend we took Chloë to the Burke Nursery Fall Festival. She sat surprisingly still for the face painting, and didn't even try to touch it after it was done. We were so impressed thinking she was a big girl and all, we decided she could handle the big kids slide instead of the toddler one. Josh went down the first time with her, and her face was priceless--very apprehensive and holding on tight to dad. During my turn with her, I got carried away and screamed in glee as we went down--poor Chloë got a little scared and shrieked and held me tight. She did enjoy the farm aminals, and was over the moon to see a duck in person. She pointed to it and kept saying "Duh! Duh!"




Showing off her ladybug face painting


Sliding down with mama!


Sliding down with dada!

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all dolled up

This past weekend we had a FANTASTIC time at Matt and Heather's wedding. Chloë, already trying to get on Dr. Avedissian-now-Walters' good side, insisted on going to the ceremony (though she did agree to go home early, so mom and dad could pretend they were still in college, drink too much, and take embarrassing pictures.)

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the fun never ends

after a great fourth of july weekend, we decided to extend the sunday funday to ensure no one got a case of the mondays! after lunch Chloë and I went to the water fountain plaza nearby and I decked her out in her surfer gear, but anticipated she'd be as aprehensive as last time we tried it. WRONG. she loved it, LOVED. IT. She squealed, and shrieked, and laughed. She giggled, and looked at me, then at the water, with her big blue (soon to be brown) eyes, and back and forth. She squealed some more, and shrieked, and laughed again. The end result: a thoroughly soaked baby, and an equally soaked mommy.

There are way too many fun pictures of our wet afternoon, so instead of picking the perfect one, I'm posting all of my favorites:

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fourth of july

after a long morning nap on her very first fourth of July, we took Chloë to the firefighter's competition in old town Fairfax. She was very impressed and fascinated by it all, but did throw a tantrum when we took her to try and get a free child identification. she's not a fan of anyone wiping her mouth or touching her fingers (cutting her nails is a production!) so she was obviously not a huge fan of the whole fingerprinting part of the process. the firefighter gave up after her third finger and much screaming, and told us to come back next year.

after lunch we watched the tug of war firefighter-style while Chloë made friends with a labrador who unlike our Kyra did not attempt to run away everytime she tried to pet her. Chloë was so excited, and shrieked every time she touched Coco!

At the end of the afternoon she also enjoyed watching the action from the very top of daddy's shoulders!

The one thing she did miss were the fireworks. She was fast asleep, and despite a neighborhood dog barking nonstop from 8-10pm, she did not wake up with either the barks or the fireworks explosion nearby.

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that's how she rolls

whenever we go out for a walk, this is what Chloë does--she puts her foot (sometimes feet) up on the stroller like so, and proceeds to hum for the duration of the walk--it's a sing song hum, and she always sounds like she's having a blast (though I know this picture doesn't completely convey exactly how much fun she's having because she looks so frickin' cool and aloof). Anyway, the foot is just a little extra je ne sais quoi that she likes to add to her sing-song-hum-dee-doh stroll. It makes her look cool. It makes her look super fly. I think so.

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we marched for dimes today!

today we marched for dimes, we marched for babies.

back in July when Chloë was born and spent two weeks at the NICU, I knew I wanted to do something to thank everyone who helped us through those times, and also to help others who may have to deal with a similar experience. I wanted to show my appreciation for all the support from family and friends, but also all the doctors, and nurses. I wanted to make sure as few people as possible have to endure what we did. Back then I didn't know about March of Dimes, but now I'm so glad I do.

Josh and I are so blessed with our gorgeous little pumpkin, and we are so thankful she came home to us after a brief (what seemed like an eternity at the time..) stint at the NICU. We are so indebted to all the doctors and nurses who helped us, and we have so much love and appreciation for all our friends and family who stood by us, from near and far, while we went through our rollercoaster of pregnancy and delivery.

today as we gathered at the park before our walk began, I felt little pangs of hurt, remembering the days right before Chloë was born, and those days soon after she came out, tiny, tiny, but breathing on her own (!!) They were little, tiny pangs of hurt, because 99.9% of the time, I almost don't remember how hard it was for us to have our pregnancy robbed from us (I know that sounds dramatic, but that's exactly how it felt!) cut short, and how jipped I felt we didn't get to experience having a baby the same way most people do: 9 months with a bun in the oven, a couple of days in the hospital, and leaving the hospital as a family, coming home together. We didn't get that, and each day that goes by I forget a little bit more, the sadness I felt for having missed out. So, today, they were just little pangs of hurt, surrounded by tremendous joy for being able to march for dimes and give back in some small way.

Josh, Chloë and I are so thankful for everyone who supported us today on our walk, and we are specially thankful for Shannon who walked with us!

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ice cream--we all scream for ICE CREAM!

this afternoon we went to Sweet Life Cafe for some ice cream, and little did we know that Ms. Chloë would devour Josh's ice cream cone. Now, Josh is not one to share, but once we saw the look of pure joy on our little pumpkin's face, it was all over. Now, I'm not sure if babies are supposed to have ice cream or what, but Chloë looooved it! Should she wake up in the middle of the night with some unknown rash, at least we'll know it was all worth it!

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mr. skip!

today we went for breakfast at Sweet Life Cafe to see Mr. Skip (click here for more about Mr. Skip.) Chloë was very, very sleepy, as the timing almost interfered with her naptime, but she was absolutely fascinated by Mr. Skip. When he sang her favorite, Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star, I thought she would doze off right then and there, as that's the song we put her to sleep with. She lasted a good 20 minutes before melt-down mode began. We rushed home, and she fell asleep soon after we plopped her in her crib.

Mr. Skip!

A very sleepy Chloë.

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dining out

in celebration of the gorgeous day we decided to take Chloë to eat out--this included nursing in the patio at Sweet Life Cafe with the breeze in her face, and having some squash and mangos afterwards. It all went very well, except for when we went to get changed in the ladies' room. Chloë had behaved so well, so lady like all throughout lunch, but she couldn't contain herself. As I was getting ready to leave the ladies' room, she barfed all over my sweater and her dress. We almost had it--it was almost too perfect, so she had to throw me that curve ball. We did not let that deter us from our day of fun, so after showing Josh the mess we made, and wiping out mango barf from our pretty clothes, we proceeded to go to the art gallery and window shopping in Old Town Fairfax.

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sunday afternoon

before the snow started falling today, we headed out to lunch and Chloë threw a tantrum because she wanted my ice cream. It was homemade (sweet life cafe!) peanut butter ice cream, so I get the minor freak out over it, but she was making a bit of a scene so after quickly settling our bill, we headed home. She promptly ate and fell asleep, and woke up in the late afternoon to the falling snow. all in all, a nice sunday afternoon.

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friends and fun

this morning Chloë must have known we had places to be and needed our rest because after nursing at 5:45am she went back to bed until 9:15am! She's never slept much past 8am so it was a sweet surprise when I looked at the clock and realized it was 9am and she was still asleep. We got ready to go to Jess' house to see all our friends, and Chloë insisted on getting all decked out. So we put on her pink Ralph Lauren shirt dress, white tights and her furry boots. We had a great time talking, eating, and playing, and it was wonderful to see everyone. All the babies look so much bigger, and are much more interactive, and all the mothers looked beautiful! I really had a fantastic time, and Chloë enjoyed herself too, despite the fact she screamed when Allison touched her face. Not sure what the big deal was, but it happened twice, and both times Chloë was NOT amused. However, she did feel entitled to touch Allison's face. After a fun morning with babies, I went to Sweet Life with Bridgie for ice cream and some gossiping while Josh stayed at home on daddy duty. I made it home just in time for a nice walk with the two of them.

All in all, it was a WONDERFUL Saturday! More, please!

Chloë with Allison's giraffe

Allison and Chloë

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daddy's getting old

For daddy's big 3-0, Chloë went all out and decided to put on her trendy sweater dress and boots!

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all bundled up

Getting ready for a walk

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our day out in georgetown

today Chloë got to hang out with her grandparents who came to visit for the day, and we all decided to go out for lunch. My dad wanted to go to Cafe Milano in Georgetown, and after packing enough diapers, some change of clothes, and getting ourselves ready, we were on our way.

everything was going so well, Chloë was in a good mood, smiling and charming everyone, the food was wonderful, and she even let me finish my food before she got hungry herself. I nursed her, and then let dad burp her. While he was holding her he said.."Hmm I think she's pooped." I was happy to hear it since she hadn't gone in two days..I sniffed around her and it did in fact seem as if she had finally pooped. As I picked her up to take her to the bathroom I realized my job was not going to be so easy..

Chloë pooped so much it had seeped from the sides and back of her diaper onto her clothes, onto Josh's shirt. Not a pretty sight in a restaurant. I managed to wrap her in a burp cloth, took her to the bathroom and got her changed WITHOUT a changing table. Her onesie had to be removed awkwardly to ensure no poop got on her, and after using up ALL of the wipes I had in my bag, she was clean, and very very happy.

Figures she would wait till we got to a nice restaurant to let it all out...

All in all it was a great day though!

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