Merry Christmas from the Girls!

Chloe (10 months) is a super crawler and pulls up on furniture. She recently started eating chunks of "big girl" food as well as her purees. Her favorite part of Christmas was playing with the gift bags.



Katie (2 and 1/2) has started being a very involved big sister. When Chloe cries, Katie will bring her a toy. This Christmas, Katie enjoyed decorating cookies and eating frosting. She also had fun at the indoor waterpark with Omi and Granddaddy.

Merry Christmas

We hope everyone gets to enjoy this joyous time of year.

Chloe's Birth Story (I'm published!)

I've been meaning to write a birth account of Chloe, but that kept getting put off. When Amy from The Finer Things in Life requested guest posts on VBACs, I offered to write one since I wanted to put our experience with Chloe into words. So without further ado...Chloe's Birth Story!

A VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) was our delivery desire for Child #2. In a world where medical malpractice suits are prevalent, my OB was hesitant but on board with our VBAC preference.

Read More Here

Published on The Finer Things in Life
Written by Ashley

Welcome to my world

Want to know what my work day was like this week?




HT: John-Michael from his FB post

A few things that have kept us busy over the last month

1. The girls and Bryan had hand-foot-and mouth disease. Within one month, we visited Dr. Sawall 3 times.

2. Chloe turned 6 months old. Since we went to the doctor so often, I elected not to schedule a $200 well-baby checkup. We know she's healthy-now she weighs 18 pounds and has been in size 3 diapers since she was 3 months old.

3. Our garden was superfulous! I canned 3 boxes of tomatoes and made some into sauce.

4. We worked on the garden; we're expanding it next year with raspberry and blueberry bushes.

5. Katie continues to be a joy, and her vocabulary has expanded. She's fully day-time potty trained, and usually goes 1 or 2 weeks without having an accident at night.

Chloe meets Oatmeal

Chloe eating oatmeal from Bryan Bell on Vimeo.

Exosaucer

The girls like their exosaucer, even a two year old.

Baby Goat and Waffles

A couple of days ago we had a guest for breakfast. Katie put the bib on and even pushed in the chair that baby goat was sitting before we ate our homemade waffles.

Daddy's little helper

This past weekend we (Bryan) planted three raspberry bushes along the side of our house. Katie loves helping out her dad. Check out the new pink gloves she mostly wears while helping.

One year ago...

One year ago today we were on the beach in Hawaii watching my friend Aron get married. Today Aron and his wife Myra are expecting their first child in November.





The view from our hotel room.

Swimming Before Bible Study

We love the Holmbergs' home!

Chicken Baja Soup

I came across this excellent recipe from a co-worker. It's a south-of-the border soup that is sweet, though it has a little kick to it! Katie enjoyed the soup so much that I refilled her (toddler sized) serving 3 times! When she finished her 2nd bowl, she said "yum, yum, more please" on her own.

She licked the bowl.



And Chloe would probably eat her portion, too, if she weren't watching her girl-ish figure.



Chicken Baja Soup

2 cups chopped chicken
1-2 T Tabasco sauce (I used 5 shakes)
1-2 T Cumin (I used 1 T)
1 can tomato bisque
1 can milk
2 cans tomato soup
2 cans water
1 can chopped chili peppers (though I deleted this)
2 cans rinsed black beans
2 cups sweet corn (frozen, fresh or canned - I used canned)
1 can diced tomatoes (though fresh tomatoes would be delicious, too!)
1 sauteed onion

Sautee chopped onion.

Add all above ingredient except milk. Bring to boil. Take down to simmer. Add milk and bring back to simmer.

YUMMY!

Kid for sale

Anyone wanna buy a kid for cheap? Mostly potty trained, good sleeper and eater too.

Reading to Bear

The other day after breakfast I noticed Katie her books. Nothing new here I thought, except that she was reading her books to Bear. Warning cutie photos below.

Happy Anniversary

This past Saturday was our sixth anniversary. Ashley and I got a sitter (thanks Grandma) and then headed over to Trader Joe's at the Bayshore Town Center. We walked around Trader Joe's, looked at the new iphone (which annoyed Ashley, but I thought was really cool). Got a fruit smoothie, browsed Barns and Nobles and topped off the trip with dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.

Cookies

Today the girls made some yummy chocolate chip cookies. Katie helped to lick the spoon and bowl clean but then again who doesn't. While Chloe sat in her favorite thinking chair.









This is not chicken pox, just a bunch of mosquito bites.

Rain Barrels - part I

Last weekend we picked up some nice new rain barrels for my father's day present. Now all I have to do is hook it up to our downspout and we are in action.

Rummage - Today!

We're holding a rummage sale today!

Thank goodness we started when the temp was 64 degrees.

According to the weatherman, it's not supposed to get hotter than 77 degrees. It's a great day to rummage! Except...so far I've spent more than I earned!

Corn on the Cob

One Year Ago

Jimmy and Camilla and their dogs came for a short visit. Katie had a great time with uncle Jimmy and aunt Camilla.

Fun at the lake

Last Friday we journeyed over to Pewaukee Lake for an after dinner treat. Ice cream!

Katie and Ashley enjoyed mint ice cream while Chloe and myself had cookie dough. Well actually Chloe just hung out in her car seat while I ate her share.





Afterward we walked to the lake and Katie decided to take a swim.

Memorial Day 2010 - II

The girls dressed up to celebrate this past Memorial Day. Thanks again vets.

Memorial Day 2010

Thanks to all the men and women who have served our country and to all those that paid the ultimate sacrifice.

A Quick Fix for a Onesie-Blowout

Let's pretend that your daughter has a diaper blowout and none of her clothes can be salvaged. Not a stitch.

And, hypothetically, your toddler is sleeping in the room where all of the clean clothes are stored.

And, for the sake of pretend, you do have a laundry basket of the toddler's clothes sitting in your bedroom.

What's a baby to do?

Answer: Put on a toddler shirt. It will look just like a dress!

(Hypothetically speaking, of course).

600lbs of dirt

This past weekend we (Bryan) added 600 lbs of dirt, peat moss and 55 gallons of manure to prep our garden.


Our garden last year was about 30 sq ft.


This year we doubled our space to about 60 sq ft.


Daddy's little helper intently watching me work.