Time with Dada (and the Christmas tree!)

Aren't they cute! Chloe loves playing with Rob when he gets home in the afternoons! :) It still amazes me how alike the look! :)
Sunday afternoon, we were moving the cars back into the driveway after Rob had done yard work. Here is a video and pictures of Chloe "Driving witih Daddy!" She had a big time!

Quick Picture with Mama in front of the tree!

Chloe is getting more vocal every day! She has words that she says (byebye, mama, dada, bear, drink, water, doggie, ruff ruff, Oooo (thats her monkey) and Oah (for Noah), and don't forget BABY!). But she has also started jabbering like crazy when she's playing! We love to hear her talk! :) Enjoy!

Mama

Hello! I shot a video last night of Chloe saying Mama, baby, and byebye. Enjoy!!!

CHLOE'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!!

Wow! Time flies!!!!! I cannot beleive we have just celebrated our daughter's 1st birthday! She is changing so much every day! :) Her birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year. It was fun to be surrounded by family (and all the good food!!) For her "Cake" she had a slice of Pumpkin Pie! She enjoyed it too! :) (Pics to follow!)

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to reflect on the year and what we are thankful for. here is our top ten list (both serious and funny!):

1. Having a wonderful Lord and Savior, on whom we can ALWAYS depend!

2. The USA---we may have our problems, but it is a wonderful FREE country.

3. food, clothing, and shelter--so many in our world today do not get to eat every day, or have a place to go in a storm, or clothing (especially in cold weather)

4. Our sweet baby girl! What a joy she is to our family!

5. Healthy Bodies!
6. FAMILY! (okay, this list is not ranked in order)! haha. Family is such a wonderful blessing from God! How would we make it without them!

7. Hugs and Kisses from you know who! :) She gives the BIGGEST HUGS EVER!
8. Our Church Family!

9. Pie! :)

10. ALABAMA FOOTBALL!

Okay, Okay. I know you come to the blog for the pictures and videos.....here you go!

Chloe and Hunny playing with her new Fridge Farm (I love this toy!)

on our way to Grandma's, we stopped in to visit with Cary, Ashley and Noah

one tired birthday girl

Tickle Time!!

Hello Again
Lots has been happening at our house in the past two weeks! Chloe is finally saying Mama and she took TWO STEPS last night for the first time! WOW! It is so hard to believe. At first, Chloe would only say "MAMA" when in distress. On Tuesday, however, while I was changing her diaper, she looked up and said "Mama" in the sweetest tone! It's like she could finally express how she felt! :o) Or so I think! It is so amazing to see how much she takes in every day! She is talking up a storm just about the whole time she is awake! :) She loves to hug Harley!

We have also had visitors a couple of weekends. Rob's sister Heather, and her husband Josh came and then the next weekend Pops and Nana came too! (Pics below!) It was great to see them and catch up! We grilled out for the Alabama game and had a good ol time! We topped it all off with a visit from Papa Bear and Hunny. They came to babysit Chloe for an appointment I had in Montgomery. Its always nice to have them around! :) Mom and I figured out how to do the timed baking in our oven, so we had dinner hot and ready when we got home from church! It's a WONDERFUL feature I plan on using every Sunday!

Chloe with Pops and Nana

Josh and Rob Grilling out Heather watching the boys grill

We took Chloe to her first football game on Saturday. It was homecoming for the Troy Trojans. We were just going to see the parade and enjoy being out in this wonderful weather, but someone came up to us and offered free tickets. It was a lot of fun! Chloe enjoyed the entire morning. Seeing all the people, and who she could get to talk to/laugh with her. She is a flirt if I ever saw one! We only stayed until the end of the first quarter though, because it was a little chilly and of course, Alabama was playing LSU at the same time! But it was great fun while we were there! We were amazed at how great she did! I wish we had pictures from our outing. We were not planning on going to the game though!

Chloe and I went to visit Papa Bear and Hunny two weekends ago. We went to the park to feed the ducks! Chloe got a big kick out of that! She quacked right along with them! I have pictures on my phone...if only I can figure out how to get them on here!

Chloe had her 12 month check up today. She weighs 19 lb 10 oz. and is 30 1/4 in long! Dr Pearlstein says she is doing so well! :) Great to have a good report! She did have to get one shot today though :( So remember her in your prayers please! I appologize for all the periods in between posts.Days are just filled with playing with Chloe and doing housework! If only I had a magic wand..or some drawfs! :) I do love this season though! So much fun to be had!!

Oh, and the other evening I was getting Chloe ready for her bath. I had stripped her down and was getting the water running, etc. I look over and she was in the process of climbing in her tub. SO CUTE!

Have a great one! We'll see you soon!

The Handley House

our bathroom

Hallway

Guest Bath


Master Bedroom

Hallway and living room

Guest Room

Back of house

The POOL!

Dining Room and entry

The Nursery

We're BAAACK!!!

I appologize for the lapse in time since our last post! Things have been crazy with this Handley family! :) Rob had a two week trip to VA, and a side trip to D.C. and Chloe and I were at Papa Bear and Hunny's (and the beach for a weekend).

Our sweet Chloe is growing so much every day! It is amazing to see how she changes! She is signing "more" on a very consistant basis. And if you catch her, you can see her sign "eat" when she is starting to get hungry. She signs "more" not only at meals but when she wants "more" of something: more Daddy, more Harley, read more books. She is such a delight!

Pulling up is a daily neccesity in our home! If she can get her hands on something, she will pull up on it! Play time is so much fun too! She is just so happy! She is trying to practice standing in safe situations. I put her in the pack-n-play with toys while I cook. She likes to pull up, let go and stand for about 10 seconds before sitting down. OH SO CUTE! I went in to pick her up after a nap yesterday and she was DANCING in her crib- this child loves life! :o) One of my favorite things is when we are playing in the floor, she will crawl over to me, pull up and give me the biggest hug! When she "blows kisses" she sucks her little lips in and makes a pop sound! It's soo cute!

ALERT, ALERT, ALERT! We have a new word in our vocabulary: "baby". She says it so clearly!! We have the Baby! Baby! book, which has a picture of a human baby and an animal baby making the same face, pose, etc. She will point to the baby and say it! :) What a big girl! She tries to say doggie and Harley- but they are not very clear yet! She can say "hey" and "dada". We are still working on "mama"!

One thing is for sure, this girl loves her daddy! A few weeks ago, Chloe was fighting going to bed (which is a rare thing). She had only seen Rob for just a few minutes that morning. He was working late but came home for about 20 minutes before heading back to the office. He read books to Chloe, they played and had cuddle time. He was heading back out and she reached out and just started crying for her daddy! Allegator tears! It is so precious to see the man I love nurturing our little girl so well! They don't get to spend a whole lot of time together but thankfully they have an awesome daddy-daughter bond! :P

Chloe absolultly loves to read books. Here are some shots I snapped the other day when she got into her ENTIRE book collection! She was having the best time! :p

Thanks for taking an interest in our lives! :) It is a wonderful adventure!

LOVE IS..............SpOnTanEoUs HuGs and KiSsES!

Chloe giving Harley a hug!(you can see the purple clad arm draped around his neck!)

Plead for Volunteers

Mom and I were at a school today spaing the teachers- oh what fun! :o) But I was very troubled today to find out that many children come to Kindergarten not knowing their colors, how to spell their name, the alphabet or even how to hold a crayon. This happens when there is NO home base for support. These children are growing up in homes that the adults are too caught up in themselves. I am not for tv for young children, but if these kids had atleast seen Dora, or another child show, they would know their colors and letters! Instead they are watching adult programing (and we wonder why they know so much at such an innocent age!) So, this is a plea to get involved. Go to a school in your community (especially one where there are underprivilaged children),and find a way to volunteer! Mom is going to be reading to/with children once a week. I'm going to find a place to plug in in Troy. Please do what you can! Even if you cannot volunteer during school hours, I'm sure there is a child in your life who could use some extra attention! These children are the future of this nation! If we want to break the poverty cycle- we MUST show them the way! Kudos to the teachers among us, and those who lend a helping hand to those in need!

Love is...enriching the life of a child!

To Great-Grandmother's House We GO!!

We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend at Mama Chloe's! They only thing better would have been to have Rob (and the other one's missing) there! Do not get me wrong, we love the army, but it always seems to find a way of getting in between our plans! :o) Because of Hurricane Gustov, Rob was put on alert- and couldn't be more than a hour away from our home! Thankfully I have a loving husband who sent me on, even without him!

It is so wonderful to be a part of a family that truly loves and genuinly enjoys each other! Chloe and I got up around 6 every morning (as did Harley), and we would go sit on the screen porch with Mama Chloe (Chloe Mae's namesake) and Aunt Linda. Others would trickle down as the minutes passed. Someone always warmed the seat of the swing and the chaise. There is something about just BEING together, catching up on each others lives. It is a family we all know we can turn to. Nothing is given with strings attached- it is given out of love. I truly cherish the time we spend together! Grandma is always so happy to see us when we arrive! She is so cute getting down on the floor to play with her GREAT grandkids (she's 87!) Calories do NOT count when you're at Grandma's! I love getting in the kitchen and cooking with everyone!

Chloe and Noah had fun getting to know one another! One would see the other and just stare! It was so cute! They would reach out for one another (sometimes grasping for noses!) I am so excited to think about all of our kids growing up together and experiencing the fun in life that we did as kids! Thanksgiving at Papa John and Mama Chloe's was always a highlight of the year for me! It was a time we KNEW we could look forward to seeing our cousins and going on our adventures!

Chloe is changing so much these days! She is definitly crusing! She is also reaching out for who she wants to go to and giving great big hugs to Momma, Dada, Papa Bear and Hunny! She is definitly a neck squeezer! The other day she had her arms spread around Papa Bears chest giving him a big hug! It was so precious! She is getting a lot more vocal too! I have truly enjoyed every step along the way. In the begining, the middle of the night was my favorite time with her! At 8 weeks she started sleeping through the night (which was wonderful too!). But I have had different I LOVE THIS MOMENT feelings as the months have past. Bath time is a lot of fun now. Chloe plays with toys and nurses. Its fun to see her playing with her toys and pulling up on everything. You can see that little mind going round and round. Oh how I would love to know what she thinks! She lights up when her DA comes home in the afternoons--she can't wait to crawl all over her favorite jungle gym! :o) We are mastering the sippy cup right now. She goes crazy when she sees it! AND Chloe can feed herself small pieces of banana and apple! She is so cute using her pincer grip to pick things up! It will be well exercised by the time she gets to kindergarten!


Here are some pictures from our trip! ENJOY! I added some oldies too!

Chloe and Papa Bear - the first 48 hours!

Chloe loves to get Harley's "necklace"

Jake was Harley's napping buddy!

Crawling, Crawling, Crawling!

Hunny TIME!

playtime!

Chloe and Noah, back in April

Back in April: Chloe Mae with Chloe Mae

Chloe and Rob, the night before we left!

Playing with Papa Bear and Hunny

Sunday Morning with our gorgeous Grandma!

Chloe spends most of her waking hours playing!

Chloe got jealous while I had some snuggle time with Noah! She will not be still long enough for more than 2 minutes! Look at those blue peepers! Noah is such a sweet baby! He has the sweetest giggle! :o)

LOVE IS

FAMILY TIES, BEAUTIFUL EYES,

LOTS OF HUGS, FROM MY SNUGGLE BUG!