Chloe is baptized

Last weekend we had Chloe baptized. It was quite a busy weekend, catching up on things around the house with Andrew's return from Outdoor Ed camp. Then, on Sunday, we headed off the chuch late morning to get our little girl baptized by Pastor Jim - the longtime pastor at the church I attended growing up and one of the co-officiants at our wedding. He is such a wonderful person and even has ties to Spokane (my place of birth) and many people we know there - what a small world. Our good friends Matt and Amanda Fehler stood up as her godparents and we felt blessed to have them be a part of the occasion along with their kids and Matt's parents - who also know my parents from old Spokane days. The grandparents were there, too, along my great aunt and uncle (Mimi and Unk).

Chloe and dad (wearing my baptism dress)

The baptism

Post baptism and walk around the church

Our sleeping beauty with us and the godparents

Sound asleep

Alter roses for the kids

Miss Halle and Chloe

Chloe and her godparents

The grandparents and Glenn/Denise Fehler

Chloe and Papa/Grandma Sams

Chloe and Papa/Grandma Gable

The Gable-Sams clan

Matt practicing his honor guard routine - don't worry, the rifle isn't loaded

So shy and demure :)

We just love her big baby blues

Cuddling with dad (and Chloe even gives a smile)

First Meal

At our 4-month appt, Chloe's pediatrician said we should try solid foods before returning for her 6-month appt. Last weekend, we decided to give it a go with banana-flavored oatmeal. Chloe actually seemed to like it, but wasn't too keen on eating a ton. Not sure if it was the texture or just the new, overwhelming taste. We had to snap a few pictures for posterity.

Here it comes

Holding on for dear life

Messy, messy

Spring is in the air (and Chloe is 5 months)

How is it that I've already been back to work for a month and Miss Chloe is already 5 months? And, our little boy grows bigger and more independent every day. To ring in the spring weather last weekend, we decided to take a family day trip to the Tulip Festival. We amazingly got out the door at a reasonable time and were up at Roozengaarde Farm just about 10 minutes after they opened - although there were already lines. The weather couldn't have been more perfect and was actually pretty warm.

Mason actually poses

Dad and his kiddos

By the windmill

Me and my little guy

This tulip was almost as big as Chloe's head - Mason picked it for me (oops)

Stopping to smell the flowers

Mason didn't really want to obey the sign

The cherry blossoms were beautiful

Little Miss Sunshine

Stopped off at Snowgoose - the biggest ice cream cones ever

On our way home

Getting bigger

Chloe is definitely coming out of infant stage quicker than we would like. You just want to box up their sweet innocence when they're this small. She is close to rolling over - spending a lot more time on her side, and even preferring to stand on her two feet with our support. Perhaps she'll sit up before she rolls over, as she's also loving to lean over when she's in her swing. She is starting to hold her bottle and chatting/cooing up a storm, too.

What will she do in the next 6 months? We'll just have to see and how excited we are for all of the milestones ahead!

Chloe - you are truly such a happy and precious baby and we couldn't love you any more than we do!

Spring Break

Dad was on spring break last week, so it was a kiddo-filled week for him. I think he actually enjoyed having 1:1 daddy time and I appreciated that the kids had another chance to be home with one of us - especially since our house was recovering from the stomach flu. Like many other's we've heard from, our house caught the stomach bug which did mommy and daddy in for a few days. Luckily, it didn't last the full week, but I hope I'm not that sick again for a while, and lesson learned, never have both parents sick at the same time.

Mostly recovered on Monday, Andrew and the kids hit up the mall and did some shopping. Tuesday they made a trip to visit me at work and Thursday included a trip to the Museum of Flight. Our week was capped off with a fun Easter weekend, including an egg hunt Saturday afternoon, Easter church service and breakfast Sunday a.m., as well as a terrific dinner up on my great aunt and uncle's farm in Mount Vernon. It truly was amazing to see the difference of a year with Mason. He really enjoyed hunting for eggs and dying them, and was truly mesmerized by the music during the church service -- so much so that we didn't need too much to preoccupy him.

Kids at Museum of Flight

Ready for take-off

A future pilot?...

Happy siblings - at least for the moment

Off to find some eggs

Dyed eggs

Our Easter pic

Papa and Grandma with the kids

Great Uncle "Unk" and Great Aunt "Mimi"

Chloe dolled up

Brother looking snazzy

Checking out Unk's barn

Hop on for a tractor ride, Papa

Taking in the fields