Update and Pictures (Isn't that an original title?!)

I know it's been a week since I've posted and I've actually sat down a couple times to write an entry, but honestly can't seem to muster up the brain power required to write.

It's official. I'm sleep deprived. I feel a bit wimpy considering the fact that Chloe is such a good baby, only really waking to eat at night, but over the last few years I've gotten used to the luxury of a full nights sleep, uninterrupted by anything baby or child related.

Anyways, now that I've given you my excuse should this post not be as eloquent as you might expect from me ( ;) ), we can move on to more interesting things.

Bella -- She started swim lessons on Monday and absolutely loves them! She kept telling me that she needed lessons to learn to put her head under water so within 10 minutes of getting in the pool on the first day of her lesson she was going under the water. Now you might think that the instructors were encouraging the kids to go under the water, but that wasn't the case. It was as simple as what Bella had been saying all along. She was at swimming lessons so she could put her head under water! I tell you, she's really something else! ;) Today they got to go in the big pool and she did great. She's floating on her back, learning to kick, jumping off the side and going under the water every chance she gets!

Here is a picture from her first lesson, courtesy of Grandma McMinn's camera...




Today we signed her up for Soccer. She is beyond excited and has been talking about it non-stop all day! She will be on the same team as 2 of our neighbors which will be fun! It's a non-competitive league and of course the first thing she said was, "I bet my team will win!" She has quite the competitive spirit so it will be interesting to see how she does when there isn't actually a "winner" each game. She doesn't start until early September and the season is just a little over 8 weeks. We are pretty excited to see how it goes.

Chloe -- Our littlest girl is 3 weeks already! The time is going by too fast and as much as I try to enjoy each moment, they seem to be passing me faster than I can keep up with. She is really starting to grow...still not fitting into any of her newborn clothes, but getting closer with each day. She has a significant amount of awake time each day and we all love holding her and just watching her explore the world around her. Between the 3 of us, she spends most of her time in someone's arms. With Bella we really had to fight against the belief that you shouldn't hold a baby too much for fear that they would become spoiled (even though our research told us different), but now that we are comfortable with our parenting style we are really able to enjoy the blessing of indulging ourselves in our precious baby whenever we want. She's only 3 weeks old, but so far she still has her hair! ;) I can't really remember when Bella's hair started to fall out, but I'm praying that Chloe's stays put...time will tell I suppose!

Grandma and Grandpa McMinn visited us this past weekend. It was nice to spend a few days together, just hanging out. We watched movies, did a little shopping, and ate way too much food! :P On Sunday night Andy and I (and Chloe, but she slept the whole time) went to Sushi for dinner while Bella spent some special time at home with Grandma and Grandpa. It was so nice for us to have some time together to just sit and talk and of course after not being able to eat Sushi for 9 months, I thoroughly enjoyed each and every bite of raw fish!

Here are a couple pictures of Grandma and Grandpa spending some time with Chloe..





And a couple more taken in the last couple days...