Elmopalooza

We were walking around Wal*Mart yesterday, trying to keep Chloe busy, when I realized her babble had a real word in it. I had never heard her use this word before, and I have no idea what made her learn it and get so excited, but she started repeating "Ehmoe (Elmo), EHHMOW, ehmow EHMOWWWW!" I looked over and noticed a stretch Elmo doll (we were in the clearence section). I showed her and asked "Elmo?" She replied "EHMOW EHMOW EHMOW!!!!"

Money has been really pretty tight, and we were not planning on getting her a toy yesterday, but how could we resist. She held on tight to her new friend, exclaiming non stop "Eh MOW EHMOW!!!" over and over. The doll was $7.50, but as it was slightly defective (and there were no other Stretch Elmo's in the store), we asked for a lower price. I remembered when I used to work for Wal*Mart in high school that every employee is basically allowed to offer 10% discount on items for any reasonable defect. Well, luck was on our side. We were given the Elmo doll for only $4.50!!!!

Chloe is saying "EHMOW" over and over still, right now in fact. I like how much she enunciated the "o" sound. Previous to learning to say Elmo, Chloe had many words but most were clipped to be only the beginning or the end of a word (ie: "per" for both diaper and zipper). So, along with ALL DONE, Mama, and Dada, Chloe can add "Ehmow" to her 2 syllabal repetior.

It was the biggest surprise of all that she knew who Elmo was!!

Click here to watch a video of Chloe saying Ehmow over and over.

Here is a picture from yesterday of Chloe and daddy :)

Our New Car!!!

I got this picture off the Internet, but it looks like our car! Actually, the body is a little different. The color is the same as above, but the car looks like this model:

We are loving it. It's a PT Cruiser 2002 LTD Edition. It has only 45 K miles on it, is in immaculate clean condition, and has all leather interior. Also, something totally new to us, it has A/C, a CD player, as well as a sun roof, extra air bags, and brand new tires!

We have a warranty on it for the engine and electrical stuff, and they made us get full coverage at the Credit Union, but because we got such a sweet deal from my dad's girlfriend ($6,700.00), we can afford all that.

It is SO SO SO nice to not be so afraid to drive. I used to always be irritated with PT Cruisers, but I really like mine. Anyway, just thought I would post.

We also got a new camera (because our old one was ran over by a car in CA). Here is a picture (from the Internet) of that. It's much the same as the old one, but upgraded. 2 more mega pixels (in my book, more than 8 mp is just a waste of computer space. Really, 6mp was fine). It has really good face recognition and other features (I will have to learn how to use). Also, it has a lithium battery so I can just plug it into the wall instead of messing with rechargeable AA batteries. Another perk is that we can use our existing SD card and save money that way.

Ramona Bowl at Christmas

My Sister Dori, Ben, Emma, and Brooklyn.

And a more recent picture, baby Lola! (You can't tell because Dori was hiding behind a rock, but Lola was in her tummy in the above picture).

My Mom Had These Pictures!

These were taken at Christmas time (when Chloe was about 5 months old).

Summer Vacation

Chloe and Mommy took a vacation to California!

Chloe really loved the beach. She was fearless when it came to the ocean. I would set her down and she would immediately start crawling at top speed to the waves. As soon as the waves would hit her, you would expect there to be some sort of fear or recognition to stop and be cautious. Chloe was not afraid. If it were not for me, she would have gladly been swept off to sea. She reminded me of a baby sea turtle hatchling.

She tried eating dry sand, and loved playing in the muddy sand and getting it all over.

She enjoyed the whole day thoroughly.

I was very happy to get her to the beach. Now we just have to get daddy to the beach for a full beach day. He doesn't know what he is missing!

One thing that happened was very interesting. When I walked down to the beach with all our stuff, I was carrying way too much and almost dropped everything on several occasions. I had removed my flip flops to walk in the deeper sand, and never thought about them again until it was time to leave. I then noticed that they were missing.

I decided to walk up the beach a ways, the way we came in, even though it was not on the way to where the car was finally parked. To make a long story short, I found my flip flops a very long distance up the beach, about to be swept away by the tide! They had an adventure of their own that day, and I was very surprised to find them right where I must have dropped them hours earlier. Children ran around them all day, and they were half buried in sand, but there they were.

RIBFEST 2008

Yesterday, we ventured into the land of Iowa to attend "RIBFEST 2008." On the way there, we encountered "Quaker Steak & Lube." I had a lot of questions about this place. There were hundreds of bikers parked outside, having some sort of rally. I was very intrigued, and looked it up when I got home. I signed Chloe up for the kids club so we can share a free kids meal there! Click Here to see this crazy place.

There were a lot of rough life wiggly tooth-ers smoking and guffawing, and drinking beers with their kids on their hips. There was a meek carnival that didn't look very safe. The toys were generic and dirty. We skipped right over the carnival.

After parousing the free stuff booths (where we signed up to receive a half a dozen free gas grills and meat smokers, Chloe got a free balloon poodle, and I got a free 5 min massage!), we moved on to the main event.... RIBS! But which vendor to patronise?

As we were just getting to the vendors we happened upon a great salesman who was fat, black and SASSY! Bounding over to us, singing along to the music that blared over the crowd, we knew we were in for a treat. He had stickers, and while he plastered stickers on everyone who was within arms reach, he made us absolutely drool as he described the food. Zach was grinning like a kid at Christmas as the sticker guy declared with a wide smile, "We got pork ribs, beef ribs, barbeque chicken, cole slaw, (then directed to Chloe) mac-a-ronie and CHEESE, grill cheese, corn bread, ANYTHING YOU WANT, we got it!!!" Zach didn't say another word. This was the place for us!

Zach ordered us a GIANT "Fred Flinstonesque" rib, and a half a barbaque chicken. He pushed the enormous rib over to me, but I objected and enjoyed the white meat of the barbaque chicken breast instead (but not until I had at least had a bite of the succulent rib meat slab).

Chloe liked barbaque sauce, after the initial shock wore off.

What was left of the giant rib.

And then we found a nice clean patch of grass!

Keeping Her Entertained

I thought I would never utter this phrase, but "with gas prices on the rise," we have had to find ways to entertain ourselves this week that do not involve driving on my dime. So far, this has meant more walking and playing at home.

Last week, as we were trying to catch the apartment manager in the office (a rarity lately), we happened upon a small soggy and angery family. Evidently, they discovered (whilst mid splashing frollick) that there was a sizable log of poop in the pool. They were cheesed.

Since then, I have been less than optimistic at the idea of going down to the pool. It's sad because I like that pool, and so does Chloe. I wish people never pooped in pools. :(

Today I was so bored I almost took Chloe to the pool for a dip. Then I thought better and got creative.

She really enjoyed herself.