Happy Birthday

Happy Half Birthday to Chloe and Happy Birthday to me. Chloe turned 18 months today and I turned 30-something today.





Chad and Chloe brought me a cake and Chloe gave me a bottle of perfume that she picked out herself. We headed out to PF Changes for dinner and then called it a night. It is nice to have a birthday on a Friday. It makes it so much more relaxing and enjoyable.

I did open all the packages and cards everyone sent. Thank you so much.

New Hire

I have been so overwhelmed lately that I hired a dog walker.



She is so good at walking the dog, or should I say, Bailey is so good at letting Chloe walk her. Bailey thinks she is walking Chloe, and Chloe thinks she is walking Bailey. Either way, all I have to do is supervise.

Homemade Fruit Roll Ups

I stumbled across a recipe for fruit roll ups and finally gave it a try. I am quite proud of myself, they turned out good.



I found the recipe here if you want to give it a try.

In Darby's recipe she says it takes about 30-45 mins for the mixture to reduce in a heavy saucepan. I used my Le Crueset pot and it took 2 hours to reduce to the consistency needed. Also I couldn't get my oven temp to go lower than 170 degrees, so I cooked it at that for 10 hours and it worked fine. The outer edges were a little tougher than the inside part. I first gave Chloe a piece from the outside and she spit it out after sucking on it. I was bummed and thought I had failed, but then later Chad gave her a softer piece to try and and she ate it right up.

Let me know if you try and have better results.

Chloe and Chad working on their ballroom skills

Bubbles, Bubbles and More Bubbles

It is really hard to tell who likes bubbles more, Chloe or Bailey?

Chloe's Newest Trick

...which makes us laugh hysterically every time. We did not teach her this, she just started realizing she could make a funny noise if she put her fingers up her nose and blew.

Chloe Says So

Check our blog everyday! Or else!!!!

Or else, we'll come to your house and hide a poopy diaper

where you can only smell it but not find it!

Doug and Emma's Wedding at USNA

We haven' t been to a wedding at USNA since we were married their 7 years ago. When Doug and Emma sent us a save the date card we marked it on our calendars and made a hotel reservation. Yes, I left Chloe for the first time overnight. Only because it was with my parents and I know she is comfortable with them at their house. I am no wedding photographer, but here are a few pictures from the ceremony.

This is the Ann Taylor dress I finally settled on wearing and the shoes I had to have Chad pick up at Tysons Corner on our drive up to MD. I had such a hard time finding shoes that went with this dress. The darkest color in the dress is a gray/brown color called sable. Only Ann Taylor had shoes in that color. I tend to make this mistake often. I buy a cute outfit and get it home and realize I have no shoes to go with it, so it sits in my closet until I find something. Then I never feel like I have things to wear because I don't complete my outfits. I think I need to start my outfits from the feet up. Pulling "the look" all together is not my strong suit.

My Norfolk Friends, Susan and Christine

Susan and Tony

Our Crew

Bridesmaid dresses were deep purple with a tan sash.

Flowers were white with purple accents.

Cute little flower girl and ring bearer

Beautiful Bride Emma

LT. and Mrs. Martin

Chad's college roommate, Jeremy and his wife Dana

Welcome to the Navy!

After this we headed off to a fun reception at the DoubleTree Hotel. We had a really good time seeing everyone and catching up. We definitely decided that when Chad retires we want to settle in Annapolis. It has changed so much for the better. I got lazy and left my camera in the hotel room for the reception. And I only called to check on Chloe 1 time that whole night!

2 is better than 1

New Haircut, New Outfit

There isn't much better then getting a great haircut and a new outfit to make you feel good. Well I guess I am speaking for myself, Chloe could care less! But she'll care one day and I look forward to it!




Haircut courtesy of my favorite hairstylist, Lori Holloran. The outfit is from Janie and Jack, you can see the shirt and shorts by clicking on the words. When I was in MD last weekend I went to the store and found some sale items. I felt like their stuff was not practical for a baby, but as Chloe gets older I am really loving their clothes, but you have to hit the sale because otherwise it is overpriced. I was going to continue to make a little list of a few things that I also love, but it got way too long! Check out the the Little Beachcomber Collection and the Pink Boat Shoes. LOVE IT!

Chloe's New Pixie Cut

BEFORE

AFTER

No smiles for me in these photos today, but the haircut turned out great. She got this cute pixie cut to even all the random pieces that were growing out. I took video, but of course, blogspot is giving me problems again. She was pretty good, she sat in my lap and watched video while swatting away Lori's hand here and there. Luckily there was no crying.

On Holiday: Day Five

Back to our holiday posts.  I love calling it a holiday rather than a vacation.  We spent the day in Dublin and met up with Chad's Mom's Cousin who lives about 30 minutes outside of Dublin.  He still has quite a bit of extended family there.  

We started our day walking around town.

Why don't you see flowers being sold outside like this in the U.S.?

Having some fun at a souvenir shop.

Chad's Guinness Girl.

Meeting Etna and Michael at Trinity College.  Chloe was passed out under the jacket. You can see her little feet dangling.

After Trinity College we headed on a bus tour.

I love these houses downtown with the colorful doors and the ivy growing along them.

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Dawson's Lounge, the smallest pub in Ireland, capacity maximum 20.

Christ Church

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Chloe waking up realizing she is now in a bus.

Polo match

Ireland's White House

After the tour Etna and Michael treated us to a very nice dinner and we got to meet Lillian and Nolan which I am not sure if they were related to Chad or not.  Trying to pay attention to tours, people talking, Chloe sleeping, Chloe eating, and Chloe running, I get a little fuzzy.