Big Girl Look

On Friday Maya and I took Chandler to get her hair cut again. Jeremy and I talked and both decided that it was just too long for her age, too much work to maintain, and started to look ratty. We went to a place called Cookie Cutters. It was pretty busy, as it was spring break. But there was only 2 little boys ahead of us. We figured we would wait maybe 20 minutes. 40 minutes later we are still waiting. All these kids kept coming in and going ahead of us. Turns out they had appts. But the receptionist didn't tell me that when we signed. She said it would be a few minutes. We left steaming mad. We headed over to Great Clips, which is mainly a mans barber shop.

Happy girl patiently waiting 40 minutes.

Getting ready to get chopped.

The lady who cut Chandler's hair was a mom and very patient with us. Of course Chandler had to be bribed with the lollipop during the haircut and not after.

Ta-da! This is her new short do. We cut 3 inches off! I am happy to say that her curls are still there. I was worried if we cut her hair, the curls would not come back.

I tried to get a good photo of Chandler from the front with her new haircut. She wouldn't cooperate. But as soon as I get one I will post it! She looks so much like a big girl now.

Maya's Visit

Maya (my mom) came to visit us for the weekend. She had not seen us since June of 2009!! Too long ago. Chandler warmed up to her right away. While she was here we went to the children's museum, the zoo, celebrated her birthday which is on the 2nd and took Chandler for another hair cut.

At the museum. Like I said Chandler loves that doll house.

Feeding the birds with Daddy and Maya at the zoo.



Maya feeding the birds.

I have some more photos from our weekend that I will try to upload later. For some reason blogger is not letting me upload them at this time. We had so much fun with Maya. We hope to see you again real soon!

Finding Those Eggs

We hosted an Easter egg hunt at our house with our moms group earlier this week. I hid/threw about 85 eggs in the back yard and we turned the kids loose. All the kids were 2, but none of them besides Chandler were sure what to do. That's because Chandler's new favorite past time is to egg hunt. We have had probably about 60 egg hunts since Saturday. No lie.

I LOVE this photo because it looks like Jake is smiling at me.


Found one!

On a side note, Chandler received her first black eye on Sunday night. She was playing with Daddy and she turned to run away from him and ran straight into the corner of our desk and fell down. Luckily the corner was rounded and it caught her right next to the eye ball. Thank you God for small miracles!

Big Girl Cup

I decided with Chandler turning 3 this summer that we better start working on her drinking from a real big girl cup. This was her first attempt. I think she did a great job.

And yes I did match the cup to her plate and bow!

She has turned into such a big girl. She no longer uses toddler ware. She is using real forks, spoons and plates. She is a big girl now.

Breakfast with the Bunny

Yesterday morning State Farm sponsored a breakfast with the Easter Bunny. So we decided to take Chandler. We were hoping that she would sit on his lap this year.

She loved the breakfast and the fact that she got to sit in a regular seat like Mommy and Daddy. She chowed down on some eggs, potatoes and muffins.


I had to post this photo, because I love it. I only wish her eyes were open. But I love that she is so happy in it. And look at those curls!

Well she refused to sit on his lap. So Mommy had to sit next to her. So this was bunny #1.

And Bunny #2. Not too happy.

But she did remind the bunny that he had to take all her pappi's (pacifiers) when he came to visit her next week. The bunny nodded yes and gave her a thumbs up!

Teachers Pet

When I went to pick Chandler up from her MOPS classroom today, the kids were dancing to music. The door was closed, but there was a window and I could see in. I stood there and watched Chandler dance & play for a few minutes. I love to do that. Watch her when she doesn't know I am there. Eventually I went into the classroom. I was putting her jacket on her when one of the teachers, Ms. Ashleigh, came up to me and told me that Chandler has the best personality. She told me that Chandler is always smiling & happy. She always listens to the teachers and wants to help them. And she is the only kid that will help clean up.

I already knew all these things about Chandler but it sure does feel good when someone else notices too. I am so proud of Chandler and the big girl that she is becoming.

Making Happy Plates

Like most 2 1/2 yr olds, Chandler is a picky eater. She eats certain foods very well, but she will rarely try a new food. The last few weeks we have made a point to put new food on her plate. Half the time she will say she doesn't like it, even if she has never had it. If she does eat all the food on her plate, we tell her she made a "happy plate" and she can choose a treat for dessert. Jeremy and I also make a big deal out of our happy plates too. Well last week she tried salmon and she ate it all! She also tried mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. This past Saturday she ate salmon again! This was her plate.

Here's her "happy plate"!

Tonight she tried (steamed) carrots and told us she loved them. One other new food item she has recently come to love is smoothies. She calls them smoovies. I usually make one after her nap and we share it. I am so proud that our little girl is becoming a more adventurous eater! I love seeing her "happy plates"!

My Bathing Beauty

Chandler loves her baths! She recently discovered how much fun bubble baths are and now she requests one almost every night.

So long!

Can you believe it?


Happy doggie.

Whenever I wrap her in her towel after her bath, she tells me she is cold. Then she says "hug me like baby Jesus." Not sure where she got that saying but I find it so cute.

I realized the other day that she will be 3 in less than 4 months!! 3!! How did she get so old so fast?!

Just for Daddy

Daddy made a request for a post with just pictures of Chandler. So here you are Daddy!

Rocking before nap time.

Jake and Chandler ready to go for a walk.

Happy girl because she made a "happy plate" at lunch.

She told me she was pretending to be a baby doggie.



She wanted me to take her picture with Jake.

Update on Baby K

Jackie and Morgan have been in Ethiopia for 3.5 weeks now. They spend their time volunteering at 2 schools. They also attend Dr appts with some of the babies at the orphanage. And of course they try to spend lots of time with Baby K. He thankfully ended up passing court a few weeks ago. His final court date is (I believe) April 7th. If he passes that one, then he will be able to come home with Morgan and Ian FOREVER!!!
We all know how I like to shop, especially for babies. So I have bought some (little) things for Baby K here and there. It has been fun to be able to get some boy things for a change.
We are thinking about Jackie and Morgan and Baby K all the time. We can't wait until they can all 3 come home!

Incognito

On one of our sunny days last week we went to the park. Upon our return, I was reviewing the pictures I took and it looked like Chandler was trying to go incognito. Or maybe she was just trying to avoid the paparazzi (a.k.a--me)!

I think she was scared to climb the stairs b/c she insisted on crawling up them.

Again avoiding that paparazzi.


Is she trying to show me her cutest feature?

When we returned home, I let her play in the backyard and she bee-lined for her playhouse. She finally let me take her picture.

Though she looks really annoyed with me. "Geez paparazzi, I mean Mommy, don't you have enough pictures of me already?"

New Camera

While Chandler and I were having a mini vacation in TN, Jeremy bought me a new camera! It is much nicer than the current one I had. The clarity is amazing. So on Friday evening we took a walk down to the lake to see if it was still frozen.

You can tell that part of the lake is still frozen. The bird in the background is actually standing on the ice, not in the water.

Chandler was so happy to be going for a wagon ride with her Mommy & Daddy.

Can't you tell a big difference with this camera? I am also excited because it is much slimmer than my other one. I can even fit it in my back pocket. You know what that means? I have no excuse to not have my camera with me.

Sunny Days

The last few days we have had beautiful weather. It has been in 40* and sunny. Before living in IL I would never have thought that 40* was warm!! Funny how one's perspective changes. But I digress. We knew the sunshine could not last long, so we tried to take advantage of it. This morning, Chandler got to decorate our back door with some Easter decorations.

Hard at work.

Then I made us some smoothies and Chandler wanted to drink hers outside and in her new Mickey cup. A big thanks to the TN Johnsons for giving it to her. We played in the backyard for a bit. Chandler loved throwing the ball to Jake, chasing him and playing in her kitchen.

Then after naps, we headed to the zoo. Here Chandler is watching the bear get fed.

He didn't seem too pleased that all these people were watching him.

It was a wonderful day. We hope that we will begin to see more sunny days like today real soon.

Highlights from TN

Chandler and I just got back from spending 5 days in TN. We had such a wonderful time. We got to see family and a few close friends. I took way too many photos and I will upload those to our Picasa album soon, but here are a few of my favorite.

It is a LONG, boring drive. I was very thankful that Chandler napped for a little over an hour each way.

Chandler and Hannah loved laying in the pak-n-play together.

Me, Julianne, Karyn and Rainer at Chuy's. We had to wait over an hour for our table but it was yummy and worth it. Not the best photo, but the best one I had.

Ella Grace and Chandler playing in the barn. The only way to get them to smile was to sing the Mickey Mouse song. I think they are both in mid-clap.

Chandler and Grandad. We spent our last morning there at the mall so she could run around at the play area. We then headed for one last fill of Chik fil a with Karyn, Hailey and Baby Tegan.

We had a wonderful time. We hope to make another trip there this summer. Hopefully daddy will come with us then.