super heroes

wonder woman

deflecting bullets
bat girl
i woke her up from her nap. after telling her,
"smile for the picture then we'll go to dad's work and get lots of candy"
i got this:

supermanfaster than a speeding bullet

pumpkin carving

last night we went to a corn maze (not as fun as last year with the logandale goodriches). then we each designed a pumpkin...

stella's:

she's getting better, last year it was just scribbles (very hard to carve)

dan's:

chloe's:

katie's:

time-out

stella's time out is on top of the piano because she won't stay on a chair. she likes it when i come back to get her and i ask her what she did. she thinks its fun. chloe never remembers what she did but stella has everytime except last night.
stella, why did i put you in time-out?
um..i hit choe.
no, why did i put you in time-out?
um, i hit choe.
no, stella. why are you in time out?
i hit you.
you didn't hit me. what did you do that was naughty?
um, i hit you.
no. what did you do on the counter that was naughty?
um, i hit da counto.
NO, STELLA! you DREW on the counter. is it ok to draw on the counter?
uh-huh.

this is what happens...

when you tell the stylist she can do whatever she wants. and there is no mirror. you end up with a posh hair-do. and what part of i-don't-want-it-boy-short did she not understand? cuz the back is boy short. and in the below picture its straight. that is because it was straight when it was long. before she cut it. now that its short, i can't get it to go straight. it just flips and waves in all different directions and its too short to round brush. my hair takes FOREVER to grow out so i told her not too short so i could try something different in a few months. but i don't think i'll be going shorter than this.

and to distance myself from the posh look i dyed it dark.

its not a horrible haircut. its just not what i would have picked. so next time i'll "tell her what i want what i really, really want. "

*pictures taken by chloe

5 Years Old

chloe turned 5 on the 15th. she had requested a princess party but i suggested a horse-themed party. (every girl in our neighborhood has a princess party.) i knocked on someone"s door who had a pony in their pasture and asked them if they would give rides. it was a hit. all the girls loved it. and nobody got kicked or bucked off. we had 13 girls, counting stella. so there were a lot of presents. each time she unwrapped one she would say, "awesome!" "i love it!" until she opened a bratt doll. she gave me this look like, "uh-oh, what are we going to do about this?" i told her it was ok and to say thank you. chloe knows that i don't like bratt dolls. she has seen them in the store and asked for them. when i told her she couldn't have one. ever. she wanted to know why. i told her they were slutty. "what's that mean?" "um, it means they wear too much make up and dress immodestly." well, the bratt doll she received is named cloe, and fortunately, doesn't have a lot of make up or provocative clothes. so i let her keep it. dan made the cake. it was awesome. i had bought some horses to decorate it with-- the expensive ones. but when it came time to put them on they were no where to be found. the kids had already eaten their ice cream and were chanting for cake. not really. but they were anxious. so we ended up with a foal that is bigger than the adult horse and a square stream flowing out of...astroturf? it was tasty though.

chloe has grown up a lot in the past year. she learned to ride a bike. she has friends and likes to play with them (and try to control them) every day. she is a helpful and sometimes pesky older sister. we've introduced grounding. she has discovered the internet. and disney channel via the internet. she's transitioning from princess to hanna montana and highschool musical. she is even learning to read.

we think she is a beautiful, smart, goofy, talented girl. we love her and glad she's ours.

Two Months Old

Fred is two months old. he laughed for the first time a couple of weeks ago. so cute. he has also rolled over from front to back a couple of times. a few people have asked me if he is a good baby or a bad baby. what makes a baby bad? he cries when he has a dirty diaper, and when he spits up all over himself, and when he's hungry, or tired, or gassy. that makes for a lot of crying. but i don't blame him. and he settles down quickly and easily. he doesn't sleep through the night either. 4 hours is the most he's slept at one time. and never back to back. usually, its four, then three, then one. but i'm not worried. we'll do some sleep training when i feel he's ready. for now he can sleep (and spit up) in my bed. just because he's so cute.

Birthday time

stella's new thing is to say, "i want dat my burday." she says this about toys in the store, things she sees on t.v. or in magazines, or even something she is already playing with at home.
but this isn't about stella--its about chloe. she will be five on the 15th. and here are somethings i'm thinking she will like for her bday:

this looks fun

and this:


she likes games:

this is what i'm getting her (mostly because i think it looks fun). i'm hoping to find one on ebay. she'll need furniture:

this is what she asked for:

and a barbie (ugh) laptop like ashton's.

she recently went through a box of envelopes. licking and sealing and stuffing and coloring. so, since you work in a bookstore, grandma goodrich, maybe you could get her some office supplies. ( i could use a box of envelopes.)

and we always like books.

we have received a lot of really cool and thoughtful gifts in the past. she is really looking forward to present time.

and don't forget stella's burday in may.

Fred, Bike Racing, and Rock Climbing

It's been a long week. Chloe, Stella and me (Dan) got super sick early in the week and spent a couple of days throwing up everywhere. Luckily Katie and Fred stayed healthy. We've all recovered and had a fun weekend bike racing and rock climbing.




The girls sure like having a baby brother around to take care of. He's much more fun than thier dolls.






Fred loves to take baths. He never cries at all in the tub.




Isn't he cute?






We went out to a local BMX track on Friday to race. I got dead last place in my race, but Stella won the 2 and under age group, and Chloe was 20 years ahead of the next 4 year old in her group. The girls went home with trophies, I went home empty handed.





Chloe shrieked and giggled all the way to the finish line.






Chloe was so proud of her trophy. She said she was going to show all her friends and clean it every day.









We took the girls rock climbing on Saturday. Chloe did really good climbing on her own, and did better than she ever had before. Stella was content to just play with the dirt, and didn't care to try climbing.

More pictures of Fred

Fred ?? LaRiviere

Fred was born at 6:30 pm on August 15th. He weighed 8 lbs 1 oz. He is doing well, but the doctors were concerned about his grunting and lack of crying, so he is in a special nursery for 48 hours. He is healthy, but they wanted to keep a close eye on him to make sure he stays that way. He should be ready to come home on Saturday. Katie did a great job making it through another fun filled delivery, and she is recovering well. The girls are thrilled to have a new baby brother, but we will have to quickly set some ground rules to make sure he doesn't get dressed up in princess cloths. Click on the pictures for larger versions of each of them.

Wheels

skate or die.

the like-a-bike taught her balance. she was able to ride without training wheels her first attempt. last month (before the like-a-bike) she wasn't even close. now she is a pro.

chloe took this picture of stella:

Hot Springs

we hiked up to some hotsprings up spanish fork canyon. it was a lot longer and harder than we expected. it felt good for me (fat prego lady) to get out. we went with our friends amy, dalls, tyler, and toby dog. chloe hiked most of the way back (about 45 minutes). amy held her hand and went ahead of us. we couldn't catch them. we were tired, my knee was hurting but we thought we were walking fast. we thought for sure amy was carrying her. when we got within ear-shot we yelled for them to wait. i guess chloe wanted to beat us back to the car. i can't believe she hiked all that way. she doesn't even like to walk across parking lots.

i love her curls.

we didn't get back to the car until about 10:45. we were stiff and tired in the morning.