Do they look similar?

Can you see the resemblance of Chloe and her Papa?

My parents pointed it out awhile back when I posted the above picture of her on the blog. They gave a copy of the picture of my dad when he was a young boy. So I thought I would share it with you. :)

Chloe's 6 month pictures

Here are some pictures of Chloe. Enjoy!

She is able to sit up on her own for a few minutes at a time

wearing a knitted sweater from a neighbour lady

She is still a joy and delight in our lives. It is hard to believe she is half a year already. Time sure goes by fast. I tried weaning her a couple weeks ago...but it didn't work. She wasn't ready and neither was I!! But yesterday I tried a bottle for 1 feed and again today. So slowly we will try a bottle and see what happens. I take my time with weaning my kids (usually a month or two or even more if needed until I am fully done) unless they chose otherwise. At her 6 month check up she weighed 14 lbs, 12.5 oz, and is a very tall baby at 27 1/2 inches in length! The doctor said that if I was planning on weaning her the formula may help with her gaining some weight but we don't know for sure. We'll just take our time with weaning and see what happens. She is still enjoying her baby cereal and baby food though!

Still Habs fans!

Yes, the boys still like the Montreal Canadiens! Here they are showing off their new shirts.

Oh...and this little girl loves them too! (even though she has no idea what hockey is yet)

When daddy goes shopping...

he comes home with:

not 1 sleeper,

not 2 sleepers,

but 3 sleepers for his baby girl!!

And he brought home a shirt for me too. He said he was thinking of his girls. How sweet of him! Aren't they cute? They are my favourite kind of sleepers from Costco. I can't have Chloe model them since they are a bigger size.

Just some random pictures

Seth had career day at school...I think it was in January?? I can't remember. But he wanted to be a captain. So here is Captain Seth of the Titanic. He is totally into the Titanic and brings home books from the school library almost each week. And if it's not Titanic books, then it is World War books or airplanes/jets, historical stuff.

Captain Seth at your service

Pretending that he is on a ship and he has his helper (or maybe the correct term is ship mate?) with him

notice the missing tooth on Seth, Daddy helped get the tooth out (pushed it back) and in the process he ended up swallowing it without him knowing. Kind of funny. The "tooth fairy" still came anyways. :) As of now, he has the other tooth beside it very loose and he won't let us help him get it out. I wonder why? ;)

One of Ethan's past times, playing Treehouse computer games

We went to the Children's Museum on Friday since the school had a PD day. The boys had a blast. The girl in the above picture with Seth we don't know who she is. She kept saying to Seth that he was her husband and he had to go off and work since they were very poor. It was kind of cute and Seth being the good little guy that he is, played along with her. When we had to leave her told her he was going off on business for a week. And she was all good with that.

Our astronauts

Our 3 blessings

And I couldn't resist this sweet picture of Chloe in her winter hat

the good ole hockey game!

I had the privilege of attending a hockey game a few weeks ago! I was able to see some pretty cute looking guys playing too! ;) Let me introduce:

Captain Seth & Captain Ethan (they had other "hockey names" but I forgot and so did they)

I didn't have to venture out of my home or sit in a cold arena and freeze! It was free! And most of all, it was lots of FUN!! :)

I'd have to agree...

....with the saying on her shirt!

we do think she's cute!

and sweet :)

and smiley, lovable,

and she's cuddly/snugly too!

and she looks pretty in purple!

Oh...and she loves to chew on her toes...yummy!

Babies sure are flexible!

Chloe is gaining weight! We can tell in her clothes and diapers too (she moved on up to the next size). She is still loving her baby cereal and we have added veggies and fruit as well. And she is loving them. OK, not all of them, especially the green beans and peas. I need to mix in applesauce with them or she shivers and gags. In a few weeks she goes for the needles and to be weighed. I am thinking she is close to 15lbs now?? She is not chunky but she is very tall and lean but is filling out a bit. :) And her 2 bottom teeth have popped through as well!

And we went to...

Or "ABCD"...as a certain little Ethan will say! They were able to cash it their reward for a happy meal at McDonalds. :) It was enjoyed by all!

Helpers

I had a long post in my mind...but decided to make it a bit shorter. I don't want to make anyone bored of our blog. :) In a previous post, I mentioned about feeling overwhelmed sometimes. I am a very scheduled/routine kind of person. I like things to get done, and get done on time (preferably have my to-do list done before I go to bed each night). And if something gets in my way of getting it done, I get overwhelmed. I have been really trying hard to change this. Realizing that I don't have to get everything done when I think it needs to be. Sometimes it is better to leave things undone and snuggle with Chloe, or play a game or read a story to Seth & Ethan. I need to enjoy the moments with them now as they are growing up so fast! I can still do this and have a tidy house too. :)

After a talk with my mom, she mentioned to me that the boys are old enough to do some chores around the house to help out. I also heard from a friend at Ladies Bible study group, that kids who help out with chores in the home feel more part of the family. They feel included and that they are helping contribute to the family. So we came up with a chore list. They are all age appropriate for the boys. Each morning they have to get dressed, make their beds (it is done "their own way" and I am fine with that!), brush their teeth, and clear their dishes from the table. They also need to make sure the family room and play room are tidy.

Seth also has to sweep the floor each evening after supper, and collect the garbage from around the house.

Ethan has the job of emptying the dishwasher (he can't reach the cupboards yet, but puts them on the counter and I put them away, every little bit helps!)

And their reward...well at first, I wasn't keen on the reward idea for doing chores. But it seems to help and to motivate them to do their chores. If done with a cheerful heart, they get to add a marble to the jar. And sometimes they get to put a very large marble in the jar if they do something unexpected to help out. Once the jar is filled up, they get treated to something. The jar has been worked on since Christmas time and it is finally filled up...so we are thinking of treating them by going out for supper tonight. Then we start all over again.

Having the boys help with some chores around the house has been so helpful. Sometimes the jobs are not done to my standards but that it OK. I can teach them to do their best and with age comes improvement. And I do still help them out every now and then to give them a break. :)

Another thing I find helpful is meal planning. I have been doing this for years and it really helps to know what groceries I need each week and what to make each day. I plan the week and base it on my dear hubby's schedule. Some days we have quick and easy meals. But this way we get a variety as well. I also have been trying a new recipe every now and then. Two nice websites I check out is allrecipes.com and Kraft kitchens. Meals in the crock pot are great too...less fuss, less mess and great taste! Stuffed peppers, Slow cooker pot roast, and Crock pot lasagna to name a few. Yummy!!!

Another great thing for me is music...listening to nice music can help. I am loving Keith and Kristyn Getty!! Thanks to my sister for letting me borrow her CD. :) And I also love the boy choir Libera. Such nice music!! I have also started up "Quiet time" again. Ethan gets some quiet time/play time in his room while Chloe is napping. Then I get a chance to read, rest or work on my Bible study lesson.

Well...I guess this post did end up a little longer than I thought. Hopefully you made it to the end! :)

She's 5 months

Chloe is 5 months today....how crazy fast time has gone!! She keeps growing and is such a sweet, cuddly, quiet and lovable baby! We gave her some baby food today. Peas. And she did not really like them. She was shivering and almost gagging, but I added some applesauce to it, and then she loved it. I plan on giving her a bit each day at lunch time, and she still gets baby cereal before bed and she absolutely love that!

Here she is with a ponytail in. She has so much hair and at the request of her daddy, I bought some ponytail holders. :) Ethan told me, "Chloe has funky-weird hair". That is his famous line when something looks a little "different" to him.

She is still sleeping well through the night. This is the way she falls asleep. Her fingers in her mouth and her other hand covering her face. I figured this out awhile ago..she would do this when she got tired. She does this every time we lay her in bed.

She loves grabbing things. She grabs her feet, toys in front of her, my hair, our faces, pretty much anything that is in her reach.

She is very happy, smiley and content. She rarely fusses. Mostly when she is tired, hungry, has a dirty diaper or rolls on her tummy and can roll back. She doesn't really like being on her tummy.

I found her this way one morning in her crib. Her head was where her feet were supposed to be and the blanket and comforter were over her head. She wasn't even fussing which kind of scared me. Needless to say, I have different blankets on her bed (more breathable ones should it happen again).

And when I open up her sleep sack in the morning this is sometimes what I find. She wiggles around so much in the night, her legs were totally out of her sleeper. Crazy little girl!

And she loves her exersaucer...although she hasn't learned to jump in it yet, she still has fun turning around and playing/grabbing at the toys.