What We've Been Up To

We've had a fun couple of weeks. Through the winter, Hogle Zoo offers free admission on the last Wednesday of the month. Dave and I took advantage of this the day before Thanksgiving and took the girls to see the 'amels'. We met up with Dave's sister and her 2 kids. It was so much fun to watch Maggie. She LOVED it. She recognized most things and was signing the entire time. It was a wonderful day to be at the zoo. All the animals were out and most of them had babies, they were so cute. I took lots of pictures, here are a few.... or more than a few.

She's doing the sign for Cat.

We spent a few days up at Dave's parents over the Thanksgiving break. We were the only ones there for most of the time, and we had a wonderful time with them. Maggie has mastered their stairs and it was so amazing see how independent she has become. She would go to the basement to play with the toys all by herself, I was so proud. We played some Rook, and ate a lot of good food. I really enjoyed the time there.

Since we will be in Canada for Christmas, Maggie got her presents early from Grandma and Grandpa Betts. She is wearing her new 'boops' (which she loves and wants to wear all day) and holding her new dolly.

Gotta love Grandma time.

Decorating gingerbread houses with her cousins

We've had some pretty good snow fall this past week. Maggie likes to walk around in the snow while Dave shovels the sidewalk. She seems to love the snow, I think Dave is hoping to have a couple of Snowboarding buddies in a few years.

We've also just enjoyed hanging out at home. Chloe is getting so fun, she has quite the cute little personality. She is really starting to respond to the world around her. She thinks Maggie is great and will laugh and smile at her, it's so cute. I love watching them together, I hope that they will be good friends.

Popcorn with Daddy, what could be better?

And last, but not least...Coco has a new tooth. I know it's hard to see, but it's there. Tooth #2 is just about to break through. She is growing up so fast.

So there you go, that's what's been going on in the Betts' Family.

Genetics...or all about Chloe

After having Maggie and seeing how much she looked like Dave, I was certain that all our kids would be little Dave clones. I was sure that the Betts' genes must be stronger than Evanson's and I would be surrounded (not that it would have been a bad thing). I was wrong. I am now the proud owner/parent of my very own 'mini me'. For better or worse, my little Chloe looks like her Momma.

Oh, how I love this sweet little girl. She is so content and happy through most of the day. She likes to hang out in her swing or bouncer and just watch Maggie and I. She doesn't like to be left alone in the room, she starts to fuss if both Maggie and I leave the room...but I guess that's not asking too much. She is DEFINITELY a Momma's girl....she absolutely adores me. I know that sounds a little conceited, but it's true. She doesn't like to be held by anyone else but me, she'll put up with it occasionally, as long as she's turned out and doesn't see who's holding her. She's getting a little better with Dave, which is nice, but she just wants to be with me. This is kind of hard and exhausting thing for me, but the payoff is I get to see her eyes light up when she sees me. It's seriously one the most amazing things I've ever seen. She looks at me with such love and adoration in her eyes and her face just bursts into a huge smile. I feel so much love from this little person, good thing the feeling is mutual.

There are only 2 things that upset Chloe...riding in the car and bedtime. She hates her car seat. With Maggie, that was a sure fire way to get her to settle down...not Chloe, she screams and screams, I hate to see her get so upset. Bedtime is another hard thing, she gets really fussy starting around 8:00 and it usually takes me until 11:00 to get her settled down for the night. Once she is down, she'll sleep a good 8-9 hours, but those 2-3 hours beforehand are quite frustrating for both of us. Even when she is crying and so upset, she still will look at me and smile through her tears, my heart melts every time.

She has been in our lives just over 4 months. In some ways it's hard to believe that 4 months have past already, but in other ways it seems like she's just always been here. I can't imagine life without her. Getting pregnant with Chloe was NOT planned and I was NOT excited. I was very scared, but this little girl has been such a joy. I feel bad about all the bad feelings I had before she was born. I am so, so grateful to have her in our family. I love my little Mini Me!