A day at Sandy Beach (original name, I know), Acadia National Park

Where else can you find mountains as the back drop of a beach? This outfit didn't stay this way, either. Within minutes of these photos, Chloe was naked and running straight into the bay. 

A day in Bah Hahbah, ME

Chloe meets snail.

Chloe eats snail.

Chloe barfs snail.

Wondering where the wild blueberry fairies live?

Yes, little Chloe, Wild Blueberry land is real, and its located in Jonesport, ME. In fact, its pretty much the only thing in Jonesport, ME.  Located in this half-spherical, all-magical building behind me is every and all things blueberry. If you can think of a noun, it was modified by the adjective 'blueberry' within this igloo-azul.  Too much to mention in this post, I'll leave it to your imagination. If you can think of it, they had it, and it tasted or looked like blueberries. 

And the walls came tumbling down...

We are into week 2 of the demo of our apartment. Week 1 was spent mostly walking around the walls, knocking on them, looking at blue prints, staring at the blueprints or the floor, maybe even squatting by a radiator, then staring at the ceiling from this squatted position. Week 2 actually saw some action.  

The pic with the stove in it shows what the hall looked like before. That stove is in roughly the same spot it will be in once everything is finished. The wall in front of the cart was torn down, exposing what once was our kitchen. And by kitchen, I mean we plugged in a fridge and microwave in that old room. The shovel is in the spot where a door will be cut and where the new bathroom will go. "P" and "M" are codes for different paint colors or at least I have been told they are different colors. Not sure which one we are using, we'll just call it beige. 

The picture with the ladder in it shows 1 of the 3 bedrooms that will be created, formerly our living room. That broken wall will be moved about 4 feet to the right, opening up the living room even more. The black fire alarm bell on the wall is on the oposite side of the wall, if you need a reference point. You also get a veiw of the wall of windows that will run down the side of the kitchen and living room. Lots of light. 

The other picture of the pile of debris on the floor is one I took to use in our lawsuit against the contractors. The assured my laying down plastic would be enough to protect the rugs we wanted to save, and that nothing would fall on the floor anyway, that they were "that good" at demo. We'll call this pic exhibit A. "Your Honor, we emptied 2 whole boxes of saran wrap on the floor, there really wasn't much else we could have done." 

What's wrong with this picture?

Trivia Answer at bottom of column.

Steph and I have been ushered into the next phase of parenting. As cute as she is, Chloe is also fast, sneaky, and has powers of invisibility. She's like a ninja covered in crumbs. Her new trick is taking dad's wallet off the shelf and strewing the contents around the apartment. Its a fun game, especially when dad gets to the front of the line at the supermarket and doesn't have his debit card, only to find it in the pack-n-play. She also was apparently born with Inspector Gadget arms, able to extend well past normal lengths and grab items n0t meant to be grabbed. Favorites include half full coffee cups, computer cords, charging cell phones, and Brodie's ears. We have taken a seminar on rod-sparing and child spoiling, and needless to say, Steph and I are not into sparing or spoiling. Hopefully our methods will bear fruit in the long run. We have already seen small changes in Chloe, she's stopped swearing and no longer makes long distance phone calls without permission.

Trivia Answer- I'm not left handed.

Chloe and Mama

Chloe and Mama

Starting early

HAM IT UP!

Chloe was hamming it up for my dad this weekend and just loved being in the spotlight of the camera. watch out Hollywood!

Sketch of the child

So here is a little sketch of Chloe that I did (not quite finished). I was thinking that portraits might be a good way to make a buck...so if any of you out there want to help a mother out send me your pics and you too can own your very own Stephanie Simon original!

Flower Child

Yesterday was one of the first warm days and Chloe's first experience with grass and flowers. She was ecstatic! With each new little flower she laughed and smiled as if it was the best thing she's ever seen.
It was adorable.

Taking Eva for a Spin

Chloe (9 months) decided she and Cousin Eva (6 months) needed to get out so she packed Eva in the walker and busted out.