Yesterday morning at 2:30 while I was feeding Bridget, I heard the snow plow drive by. I thought "that's weird, it's not suppose to snow till Sunday". Sure enough I looked out the window to SNOW!!! NOOO, more snow!!

So while Bridget took her morning nap, Josh went out to shovel the driveway and for the first time I joined him to burn off some cabin fever energy I had built up.



During Bridgets early afternoon nap, we finally got the whole driveway cleared and we could safely drive our car out!!

I wish

that I was here


I'm so tired of the snow and being cold!! And it takes like 15 minutes to put all our layers on and get out the door!!

Bridget at 4 months

Bridget had her 4 month check up yesterday and she is doing so well!
She was 13.6 lbs and 24.5 inches long. Both in the 50% percentile.
She is so much fun during the day and loves to laugh & smile!
We also like to look at books


While at Maggies, Bridget rolled over!! Josh was out skiing and I was in the other room, so we both missed it. But she hasn't done it since!
Her little laughs make us laugh everyday and her personality is really starting to show!

Iowa

Last weekend Josh and I decided to take a trip up to Waukee, Iowa to see my sister and her family! Josh got off work a little early Thursday afternoon and we began the 6 hour drive.
My sister hadn't told the kids we were coming, but they knew someone was coming to visit. When they opened the door they were so suprised to see us there! They said "Mom, it's Aunt Chloe and Uncle Josh...and Baby Bridget!!" We had a great time just hanging out and playing lots! Friday night the boys went night skiing while the girls went to the mall for the kids to play, then went out to dinner to Applebees.
Here's Parker in his snow get up just to go to school! He has to have all this snow clothes for recess!

Here's Mei Ling & Mary Anne at our pretend picnic in the basement

This is Mei Ling & Josh trying to get Bridget to roll over

Mei Ling, being the little 4 year old girl that she is, adored Bridget! She was always playing with her and keeping her entertained! And she is such a good helper!!



Saturday the kids went out to play in the snow, they all looked so cute bundled up!



Logan showing off his cool hat :)

All the kids together

We had such a fun time, we wish we lived closer!

Bridgets First Christmas

...was in a car.
But besides that it all was great!
Pete, Julie and Dustin flew into St. Louis on the 23rd and hung out at our house till Christmas morning. We of course had to go to the famous Mills Mall where we played glow in the dark mini golf, and Josh & Dustin did this trampoline thing. It was pretty fun to watch them do it, although they both felt sick and had headaches afterwards.


Christmas morning we left at 7:20 and arrived in Fort Walton Beach, FL at 9:20 p.m.
It was long, but Bridget did great! I think the hardest part was that being Christmas, NOTHING was open! So when we stopped for lunch, the only thing open was IHOP. It took 20 minutes to get seated and even longer to get our food!
This was my first time to Florida and it was so beautiful! We stayed in a nice condo right on the beach. We got to wake up in the morning and look right out the balcony window to the ocean! It was great to look out the window, but as soon as you stepped out the door it was COLD and WINDY!! Monday was the best day because it was nice and sunny, that made it a little warmer so we took advantage of it and went for a walk on the beach!
Our family (it was so bright!)

Bridget and I

The reason for going to Florida was for Joshs cousins wedding. It was fun to see his Aunt and cousins that we hadn't seen in 3 years, when we got married.
They got married on the beach and I'm pretty sure everyone was freezing!

The reception was fun and filled with lots of dancing!


Sleeping on the way home

Stretching before having to get back in the car seat!

It was great to be with family during the Holiday, and we will miss them lots!

California trip

In November Bridget and I flew to California to visit all our family! She did really well for her first flight and everyone around us ooooed and awwwed over her. She was the talk of the plane. I really wanted to take pictures and document her first airplane ride, but my hands were kinda full. We had a week full of visiting family, long walks in the park and catching up with friends. When Josh came a week later, we had lots of fun hanging out with family and enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday. We took traditional Pilgrim & Indian pictures and family pictures too. I loved finally having my own little family for portraits. I think they turned out great!




Also while we were there we got to visit my Grandma almost everyday. We took advantage of our time with her and decided to take a 4 generation picture. (Thanks Amber!) My grandma, my mom, me and Bridget. My Grandma has muscular distrophy and as it has gotten worse and worse she had to move into an assisted living home because she can no longer walk, and barely use her hands or hold up her head. It was really hard to see her like that but I'm so glad that she got to meet Bridget. She just lit up everytime we came and she held Bridget in her lap.

Also while we were there we got some new dresses for church! (Thanks Grandma Atkin!)

It was great being with family and being back in California but it's good to be home!

Mermet Springs, IL

My family has a tradition where our Dad takes each of the kids on a trip anywhere in the U.S. they choose to go at age 15 (I know, dangerous right?). It's been a great opportunity for each kid to really show what they're interested in and get some one on one time with their old man, Chloe and I are already making plans to continue this tradition with our own kids. While my honor student sibilngs chose to go see the capital, the statue of liberty and the smithsonian, I chose to stay within the confines of California dragging my dad up and down the state searching for any possible way to utilize our health and/or life insurance (rock climbing, ATV riding, surfing, spelunking, rappeling, etc.) While on my trip, my dad and I got a chance to go SCUBA diving in Monterey Bay. I fell in love with the concept of spending an hour underwater without ever having to surface for air. Since that time I've always wanted to become a certified SCUBA diver, but it isn't neccessarily easy on the pocket book.

And so, about a month ago I went over to a friends' house one evening and helped him remove a couple pesky trees around his house, in return he offered to get me certified to SCUBA dive as he just so happens to be a SCUBA instructor. I spent the next four weekends in a heavily chlorinated pool at the community college learning all the skills neccessary to successfully give Chloe a heart attack (she thinks it's dangerous). Finally all my hard work in the pool paid off and we took a trip last weekend to Mermet Springs in Illinois www.mermetsprings.com and it was awesome! It's an old rock quarry that has since been allowed to flood over creating a man made lake. In the water the owners have sunk a: school bus, ambulance, motorcycle, three cesna airplanes, helicopter, semi-truck, and the Boeing 727 from the movie "US Marshals". It was really neat to be able to swing inside a school bus and sit down on the old benches 30 feet underwater.

After spending the night in Metropolis, IL (Famous for their superman museum) we headed back home just in time for a halloween themed suprise birthday party. We dressed up and had a great time but were quite ready for bed later that night.



Getting all my gear ready for the first dive.



Yes the hood was neccessary, water is quite cold in October.



Chloe killed time holding Bridget and reading books.



Bridget getting ready early in the morning for her first road trip.



We knew we we're back home when it became cheaper to kill construction workers again.



We dressed as Pumpkin Farmers!



This years crop, the squash that gives our lives meaning.