Merry Christmas

It has been busy here around the Newell house. Just like Santa's workshop. The girls are ready for Christmas and can't wait for Santa. Chloe is adamant that Santa is bringing her an elephant - this has been some work on Santa's part but stay tuned for what Santa brings. Cleis has on her list a Baby Alive, Cupcake Maker, hula hoop and the list goes on and on.

Chloe has given us a lot of amusement this Holiday season. She is loving Frosty and can't watch enough of it. I think TV rules have been broken in this case. Chloe loves the Christmas music and does a great job of singing , of course her favorite, Frosty the Snowman and her next is Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. Tony has made a couple of videos and I will post them.

Cleis is enjoying her school break although she continues to enjoy school and is doing well. Cleis is very excited for Santa and is doing everything to make sure she is a good girl. Cleis does a really good job at trying to make sure her sister is a good girl too but sometimes that is a challenge, for all of us. :)

We wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas.

Happy 2nd Birthday!!!!

Officially at 12:10 p.m. it's Happy Birthday!!! Chloe is eating up the attention she is receiving. She is going around singing Happy Birthday or in her terms Happy DoDo. It's hiliarious. This is going to be a long week of celebrating since she shares the day with her two Mimi's. We have several dinners and birthday cakes planned.

Adding to the mix!!!

I can't believe we are starting our 4th week of school. Cleis is going strong and loving school. She comes home excited every day and ready to share a story. It is great to hear those stories and to hear about the friends she is making and the fun she is having. Many have asked about the bus situation...... she IS riding the bus. She wants to ride it and loves it so we have stayed with her taking the bus. After hearing the nightmare stories of afternoon carpool, I'm okay with her taking the bus. I hear that parents are arriving at the school one hour prior to dismissal to make sure they can get a good spot in line. That is crazy and a waste of 5 hours or more of my week.
With the start of this week we are adding to our schedule. Cleis started dance tonight at 360 Dance, she is so excited about dance but I think she is more excited about doing recitals. I'm really hoping she enjoys dance and would like to stay with it.
I started my new job today and it went well. All my little guys & gals did great (except for one). I think we are going to have an exciting year. Chloe also started her preschool program and they tell me she did great. I hope that is the case. My Director and I have placed her in the older room so that she and I could have a break from each other. I'm keeping my fingers crossed she continues to do well and has a smooth adjustment.

Stay tuned for the report of next weeks addition, I'm going to be doing an early morning boot camp three days a week. Chloe will be attending a Mother's Day Out program on Monday's and I will be volunteering in Cleis's classroom and cafeteria during that time. Cleis is going to be participating in a Mad Science program after school - I wish I could be a kid again, I would love this, especially the making of cotton candy day.

I think this will complete our routine and we will settle into our schedule.

Little School Girl

It's official, Cleis is now a school girl. I can't believe how fast the first day of school rolled around. I can't get over how fast time truly does fly. I can't believe it's been 5 years since we brought our little girl home and everyone left and Tony and I looked at each other, 'like okay what do we do now'. We had this beautiful little baby and we were suppose to take care of her. Well if I do say so myself I think we have done a great job thus far.

Cleis started her first day on Tuesday, August 12 and she was so excited. I wasn't sure how I would feel, I had so many mixed feelings but I did just fine. I was so busy and rushing around and trying to make sure I had remembered everything I don't think I had to time to think about what was actually going on. Plus Tony had not made it back in town yet from his trip to Alaska, he was on the road home though, so I was doing it all by myself. I did have some help from my wonderful mother-in-law. She wanted to see Cleis off to school and when she arrived I still needed to finish a few things up so she finished up with Chloe's breakfast and we headed out the door.

We are now into day 3 and Cleis loves it. The first day she got home, her very first comment was I'm hungry. We totally expected this. After I checked her lunch box, no wonder she was hungry. She had only eaten about 3 bites of her sandwich and nothing else. No chips, no yogurt, no fruit, even the snack I packed were still in there.

Not only do we have one in Kindergarten but I think Chloe wants to be in Kindergarten. Cleis is working on colors over the next couple of weeks and we were singing a song about the color red and before we knew it Chloe was spelling red too. I even tested her today to see if she knew how to spell red and sure enough she said R-E-D.

I think I'm going to be very happy at Dunn, we've already found several people there that we know and I'm looking forward to reconnecting with those families.

Pee Peeing on the Potty

Now before you get too excited. I don't think we are at regular status yet of using the potty but we are well on our way. A couple of weeks ago we broke out the potty chair, it's been a big hit and exciting time for Chloe. She will now tell you when she has to go and wants you take her clothes off. She insist that we take everything off, I find it to be a little bit of a pain.
We are amazed at how much she wants to use her potty and the fact that she actually knows what she is doing.

keep up the great work, CB!!!

Time to Break Out The Potty Chair!

Over the past several weeks Chloe has been letting me know when she has peed her diaper or poop her diaper. I think it's time to start, a little early but hey I'm not complaining I will follow her signals.

We brought out the potty chair and she loves to carry it around with her. At this time she has no problem where she sits down to go potty. Chloe loves a good praise after her potty duties. We are giving lots of cheers, happy jumps, and high fives. I know we are still a ways off from being diaper free but for now we'll take these few and far between moments of potty use.

Let the potty training begin. The sooner the better.

Cleis will be a Dolphin!!!!

I'm a little late in following up with everyone where Cleis will be starting school on August 12. We are very happy. Cleis will be attending Dunn Elementary and will be a Dunn Dolphin. Yay!!! Go Dolphins.

Stay tuned for more updates on Cleis starting school after August 12.