Chloë's First Day of School

Chloë went to her very first day of school today.  I wasn't sure what my emotions would throw at me, but somehow I managed to stay cool and calm, and didn't even wish for waterproof mascara.

I laid everything out last night, just to make sure we had everything we needed.  Good thing, too, because I had to sew a button on the dress.

Then this morning we were all ready to go! 

She wasn't very excited about pictures.  She just wanted to go to school.

A few days ago, we attended a classroom orientation, and she got really nervous and even shed a few tears.  She wasn't sure if she wanted to go to school if it meant I didn't get to be there with her.  We talked a lot about how we trusted her wonderful teacher Mrs. Rust, how she was going to make so many new friends, and how many amazing new things she was going to learn.

Our conversations must have been encouraging, because she really was excited.

We decided we all wanted to be there to see her off on her first big day.  So we all piled into her classroom for just a minute, and I snapped a couple of quick pictures.  

I went home, got a few things done, and then took Elaina (and Norah) out to Starbucks for a special little date.  Then it was time to pick up Chloë.  She was grinning from ear to ear.  On the ride home (and pretty much every moment since then) she was telling me all about her wonderful morning.  She actually got a little choked up when I explained that she wouldn't get to go back until the day after tomorrow. 

I'm so excited that Chloë has such a wonderful opportunity.  I think we're off to a good start. 

Ballet Class

For a while now, Bryan and I have been talking about introducing Chloë to some sort of classroom setting.  We want to make sure our kids know how to respect adults that they aren't necessarily related to.  So we considered swimming lessons, or various sports, and finally decided on ballet class.  It was a five day "camp," and an hour every day seemed like a good introduction. 

I had been collecting ballet stuff at garage sales, so last week we were ready.  She was really excited.  I think going to see Swan Lake last Spring might have influenced that excitement.

Her fine, wispy hair was a challenge to keep up. 

Lots of hair clips and hairspray helped.

These pictures are from her third day in class.  She was so eager to learn.

I was so proud of how well she paid attention and listened to instruction.

Of course she's still pretty rough around the edges, but not bad for a kid that turned three last month.

This video is from the second day.  I wish I would have waited until the fifth day, because I was actually pretty impressed with how much she improved in a few short days.  Kids are such sponges.


She was sad when I told her that ballet was all done.  I'm so glad she enjoyed it, and is already looking forward to next time.

Happy Birthday Party

I spent a silly amount of time collecting schedules from all of Chloë's grandparents, aunts, and uncles, trying to find the perfect day where everyone would be available.  I just needed to find ONE DAY in the month of June so I could throw a birthday party for Chloë.  Well.  No such luck.  So I settled on having two parties.  Plus a little party on her actual birthday.  So three parties for the three-year-old, we decided.  She didn't seem too torn up about it.

So a couple of weeks ago we had the Blakey Chloë Birthday Party.  It was still a week before her birthday, but she understood that she wasn't actually 3 yet.  If someone wished her a happy birthday, she was quick to correct them.  "It's not my birthday," she would say, very seriously.  So we started wishing her a happy birthday party, which went over much better.

The weather was perfect, so we had a BBQ outside.  At the last minute, I decided to go with a  sprinkles theme.  She had, after all, asked for a cake with sprinkles.  So I pulled out every color streamer and balloon that I had in my party box.

Her birthday outfit just happened to work perfectly.

Elaina is already tired of hotdogs and hamburgers.

So excited about her princess balllon. 

Happy Birthday Party!

(I even put sprinkles on the vanilla ice cream.)

Besides the cake with sprinkles, she wanted "dress-ups" for her birthday.  She got lots of good dress ups, but she especially had a lot of fun trying on the different hats and accessories.

Elaina worked on her cake for a long time.  This kid loves sugar.

I think it was a success.

3rd Birthday

We drove to the Oregon coast the day before Chloë's 3rd birthday.  We joined the Beckers at a beach house, and had a wonderful birthday for my big three-year-old girl.

The last night she was 2.  She tried to do her first slumber party with Bella and Eva, but ended up in our room half way through the night.

Eating chocolate chip pancakes for her birthday breakfast, and proudly declaring her new age.

Elaina and Aaron eating some Cheerios for a snack. They are a little bit bigger than they were last year.

A little post breakfast color session with Eva.

I made tasty fish tacos for dinner for the adults, but we made Kraft mac-n-cheese for the kids.  It was a huge hit.

Opening a few presents.

I made her a pink tutu. 

She was pretty pleased.  The tongue-out-of-her-mouth thing mean she's excited.

One of the few things she requested for her birthday: A cake with sprinkles.

Samuel just happened to be in Oregon on his own little vacation from Denver, so he and his girlfriend Alexis joined us for the evening.  Chloë loved the bubbles he brought her.

The kids all loved the bubbles.

Samuel helped Chloë with the 100 piece princess puzzel he gave her.

After the kids were in bed, we stayed up for a little late night Carcassonne. Good times, even though I didn't win.

It's fun looking at pictures from our trip with the Beckers from last summer.