11 months

One year is coming too fast!  My baby girl cannot be a year old already, this year has just flown by!  The latest step count is 8 steps.  She is just too chicken (and crawling is way faster) to walk much yet.  She has great balance and can stand for a very long time, but once she realizes you aren't holding onto her anymore she practically just sits down.  Chloe definitely says "daddy" and "ma ma" a lot and has recently added "uh oh" to her vocabulary.  She says it a lot just beginning this weekend.  She used to say "go" and "gog(dog)" quite a bit as well but not so much lately.
Chloe continues to love to play with Preston and he generally enjoys playing with her as long as she doesn't mind him snatching toys away from her.  Chloe will just laugh and laugh at Preston, especially if he is playing with Daddy.  Today they were playing tag for a bit and Chloe loved watching them run and "scare" each other. 
Preston is becoming quite the little preschooler!  He is trying to read and spell words.  He can spell and read "go" for sure.  He tries to spell "stop" just gets the letters out of order.  Over the weekend we were reading nursery rhymes and AJ asked him what a word was in Hey Diddle, Diddle and he sounded out the word "dog"!  Potty training is on an upswing right now.  He seems to want to use the potty again for the most part.  I'm just ready for him to be out of diapers but without forcing the issue! 
Our weather has been up and down like crazy lately!  Preston has been in the sprinkler in the past couple of weeks and also had to break out the light coat.  Yesterday Joplin got hit with an EF4 tornado and have terrible destruction in almost the whole town.  The tornado was 3/4 miles wide and went through a 6 mile stretch.  A lot of the town is just completely leveled.  We saw a sign of God's promise probably about the same time as the tornado was hitting them - a double rainbow.
Mother's Day was a fantastic day and we had a great time.  We went to our friend's church to see their baby dedication and then went out to lunch.  My present was a mother's bracelet and it is beautiful!  I have worn it everyday since it was given to me.  It has Preston and Chloe's names and their birthstones.  It reminds me of them all day long at work (and that I would rather be with them!).  I was trying to convince AJ today that since he gets 3 months off every year, I should only work 3 days a week - that only seems fair to me!
Well I have taken a lot of pictures in the past couple of weeks.  Chloe is 11 months old and officially 49 weeks today.  I cannot believe there are only 3 more weeks until she is 1....

 Same day, different outfit!

Mother's Day

Chloe's favorite thing to do lately!

Bubbles!

Practicing standing on one foot!

Yes, 2 top teeth!!

WHAT!?!

Oops, didn't have extra clothes for Chloe when we were out so she had to put on some of Preston's that we had!  Not too bad...

She is really trying to figure out this doggy door but she just won't push through the doors, she tries to pull.

Hey!

 A walk in the wagon!

Double rainbow!!!

Playing hide and seek!  Bet ya can't find Preston....

Playing together!

Have a great week!  God bless you and keep Joplin in your prayers.

Dickerson Park Zoo

This past weekend we got a little reprieve from the rain it seems like we've had forever now!  We got to take a trip to the zoo in Springfield on Saturday - the weather wasn't perfect, but it wasn't raining so we went anyway.  Normally it costs around $6 or $7 to get in, but it was only $1 Saturday which is why we decided to go as did everyone else in Springfield!  The kids seemed to really enjoy seeing the animals and just being outside.  We had a great time until the very end when we were getting ready to leave and Preston was climbing back into the stroller.  He was very tired and I guess wasn't paying too much attention and just fell right out onto the concrete - poor kid.  He cried almost the whole way to the car.
Chloe is growing like a little weed.  She is standing for a long time on her own now so I am sure she will be walking anytime.  She is 10.5 months which is when Preston started walking so she is keeping right up with him!  She is "talking" like crazy - she definitely has "daddy" down but I do believe it applies to both AJ and I right now.  She says "momma" but I don't know if that is in reference to me or just that she wants something!  We think she is saying "dog" and "go" but they sound a lot alike. 
Chloe continues to love to eat!  She recently has tried cottage cheese and loves it!  We basically let her eat whatever we are eating now with some exceptions of course - still no sweets except animal crackers(except when Aunt Marty gave her cake and ice cream at Melissa's shower!) and no corn or strawberries yet.  We've had hot dogs but I didn't let her have those yet either!
Last Tuesday I took Chloe to the Urgent Care for her first experience there.  She just wasn't acting normal, was coughing and sounding a little congested.  Turns out she has an ear infection and she is congested - she had to do some breathing treatments - no fun!  She is doing much better but is still on the antibiotic for a couple of more days.
Today Preston went to the dentist with AJ.  They told me to just have him come in with both of us the next time we went and he could sit on our laps and would probably ask to have his teeth cleaned too.  AJ said he did awesome!  He sat there and watched the hygienist clean AJ's teeth and then did ask to have his done.  He chose bubble gum flavored toothpaste and let her use the polisher to clean his teeth!  He is just getting to be so grown up! 
Not too much else is going on around here.  We are just waiting to have some nice weather consistently - we are ready to be through all this cold and stormy stuff!

Look no hands!

Such a strange shot!

 Stick the "key" in the little machine and it tells you about the animals - either talking or singing!

 With the mountain lion

 Running in his first race - he didn't know to stop though!

 After church!

 She looked so cute before daycare, but of course ruined her clothes so I was glad I at least got this pic before the day got started!

 FEAR THE POO! literally!! ;)

Have a fantastic week!