4th of July

We went to the Bergers for an imprompu 4th of July celebration. Dave made a bonfire and Craig set off fireworks! Alex was in NYC seeing Wicked with Grandma.

Chloe eats!

Cloe eating Ceral and Sweet Potatoes! Yum!

Chloe Winter 2009 pics

Here are some pictures from this winter of Chloe. She is about 2
months old in these.

Charlie's 3rd Birthday!

Charlie turned 3 today (at 10:30am to be exact)! He was looking forward to today for a long time and has been wanting to say he's 3---and now he can! He woke up this morning and instead of coming into our room, went right downstairs and stared at his train cake for 15 min. Fortunately, all he did was stare--once we realized what was going on, visions of him face-deep in the cake raced through our heads. He said he just wanted to look at his Casey Jr (from Dumbo) cake. We had his party today with 11 of his friends from school and the neighborhood at Moonbounce Adventures, an indoor place in Kennett where they keep several slides inflated in an indoor playground. The kids LOVED IT, running around and going down the slides and bouncing around. The parents loved it too, because the kids were in a contained area and they didn't require a lot of hands-on attention. After an hour of playing around, the kids had cheese pizza for lunch followed by the cake. Everybody sang Happy Birthday, and it took Charlie a few attempts (and some help from Sofia, the girl to his right) to blow the candle out. After cake, the kids burned off some more energy by running around some more before the party finally came to an end. Charlie was sad to leave, but he had a great time. We came home, and after nap, started opening presents. This was a long ordeal as well, as Charlie insisted on getting out and opening each present and playing with it for awhile. We opened several presents before finally giving up and letting him play with everything. A very fun, but exhausting day! Happy 3rd birthday Charlie!

Jessica got Charlie the hardback Puff the Magic Dragon book, which also came with a CD with the song of the same name. He really liked it! Jessica wrote a note in the cover for him, and I'm sure he will keep this book for a long time to come! THANK YOU JESSICA!!!!
Blowing out the candles!

COSI 2009

While in OH for Kathy's 60th surprise bday party, I took the kids to COSI for the day. Charlie and Alex had a great time at this wonderful science musuem, exploring the deep space, the ocean, and other exhibits. The travelling exhibit was Frogs, and there were many types of frogs on display, from the small poisonous dart frogs to some that resembled tree moss or leaves. Charlie also posed on the space potty, and Alex rode the bike across the building foyer. He pointed out that the bike here was better than the one at the Franklin institute because there was NO safety net beneath it!

Video of Chloe and Jenny

Chloe Michelle Westphal is born!

Chloe Michelle Westphal was born on January 3rd 2009 at 1:37 PM. Her due date was January 6th and we were hoping she would come after Christmas, but before 2009. Chloe did what she wanted to do! Alex's birthday was January 2nd, so we are just glad that she will have her own day.

I had contractions on and off for a few days, but in the middle of the night starting about 2AM, they started coming stronger and wouldn't go away. I let Craig sleep and went downstairs to sit with my Dad until 7AM (he gets up early). I woke Craig up and Alex, my Mom and Laura and we headed to the hospital by 7:30. Alex was so excited and jumped out of bed right away! When we left, my contractions were about 5minutes apart, but by the time we got to the hospital, they were strong and coming faster. I was in alot of pain when I checked into Labor and Delivery. I was already dilated to 7cm, so they weren't sure if I would have time for an epidural! That was scary - but we got one in time, because then things slowed down and she didn't come until that afternoon. I pushed for 45 minutes and finally she arrived at 1:37 PM.

Chloe was such a good size at 8lbs and 20 inches and she was so beautiful and alert! We are so blessed to have 2 healthy boys and this perfect little girl. We thought we would be able to name her right away when she was born, but it took us about an hour to decide on Chloe Michelle. Here are some pictures of her arrival and some video.

Disney Day 1 - Trying on Hats

Charlie dancing at the parade

He is not shy!

Disney Vacation - Day 1

We flew to Disney World for a 10-day vacation in October. It was Charlie's first plane ride (that he remembers) and he was very excited to fly in a plane. We got to Orlando on Saturday night, stayed over at the Embassy Suites at the Airport and drove to Disneyworld the next day. We started our vacation at Magic Kingdom and it was so fun to see the kids excitement as we got into the park. We took the ferry over and then entered the park and had our first picture in front of the castle. Charlie's favorite was the "Year of a Million Dreams parade" and Alex wanted to ride all of the rides Charlie and I couldn't go on. Jessica, Alex and Craig rode Space Mountain while Charlie and I stuck to tamer rides. We all enjoyed the new Monster's Inc. attraction - "Laugh-in Floor". We spent most of the day in Tomorrowland and Frontierland...doing Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Carribean, the Buzz Lightyear ride and more...

Rebecca's wedding

Rebecca got married in September to Dave Clifton and it was a beautiful ceremony. We were so excited to be part of the special day!

Thomas the Train

Charlie and I visited the Strasburg Railroad for "Day out with Thomas" We had a great time even though it was hot!

Craig and Jenny's Birthdays

Jessica made a cake for Craig's birthday on Sept. 7th. Craig was out of town for Jenny's birthday, but Dad was visiting for a business trip in King of Prussia so we celebrated at Cafe Valentina and had cake afterward that Elizabeth had bought for her!

Alex's First Day of School 2009

Alex's first day of 5th grade. Charlie is in his pjs and can't wait until he can ride the school bus!!

Fearn Visit

We took the kids to Longwood while they were here. Charlie and Ben especially had a fun time playing together with water!