Progress

Chloe has started getting up on her knees today.. she was doing it a lot, and of course when I started the video she only did it a few times haha! 

Cereal, giggles, and teeth. Oh, My!

Chloe started eating cereal on Saturday! She was really unsure about it, and couldn't get used to the texture. Sunday was a different story, though! She gobbled it up and kept going "mmmm". She usually ends up wearing more of it, but today she stayed pretty clean!
She has also figured out how to laugh- FINALLY!! She was grinning with her mouth hanging open for so long that I love that she finally laughs out loud.  She usually laughs at daddy the most, but don't we all! hehe! There is nothing better than a baby's laugh!
She has been acting like she might be teething for a while now.. drooling, fussing, and pulling off while nursing. All of these are signs of teething, but it has been going on so long that I figured it was just some weird phase she was going through. Lo, and behold! There is a white bump on the bottom in the middle of those cute little gums. It actually looks like both bottom teeth are trying to push through. That little gummy smile will never be the same again.  I have the "Munchkin" spoons (all of you new mommy's will know what I'm talking about) and they aren't easy to bite on. I bought some of the gerber ones that are more flat and have that rubbery tip so that she can chew on it and get some relief.  She has her four month check-up and gets shots tomorrow.... Life really is a vapor.

whatsoever state I am in, therewith to be content..

I have been in a funk of sorts lately.  Not only that I am sick, but I feel.. I don't even know how to explain how I feel.  Don't get me wrong. My life is amazing. I love my husband. I love my daughter. I love my family.  But, something is off.  I feel so discouraged about some things. I look in the mirror and I am completely disgusted by what I see. I know that I have lost 28 pounds from the pregnancy and only have 9 to go, but I feel so disgusting.  I am covered in stretch marks, and have this gross saggy belly from my skin not keeping up with the weight loss. I can't fit into my jeans, and still wear maternity pants most of the time. I walk through the mall and end up "depressed" because I look at all of these clothes that I would love to wear, but can't. I can't for two reason: 1. I am hoping this fatness goes away, so I don't know what size to get and 2. I can't afford to buy a whole new wardrobe.  So, I will continue to wear the same 4 sweaters and my "fat-pants".. I am trying really hard to work on being content with where I am and what I have. I know that I am so richly blessed, and that material possessions are worthless in life, but that is my struggle...
Chloe is getting more content during tummy time.  She lasted much longer today before getting upset than she has in a long time. I love how strong she is, and how much she will talk to me and tell me stories.  I had her sort-of laughing tonight.  She opens her mouth wide like she would be laughing but nothing comes out. Occasionally a "HA!" or "AH!" comes out.. but other than that, nothing! She is still sick, so on Monday I will be calling her pediatrician (for now..) to make sure I am doing everything that I need to.  Our insurance company has yanked us around so much I am completely frustrated. The pediatrician that has seen her since she was born ended up not being covered by our insurance, and somehow that was missed for three months.  So, we picked 3 more before we finally found one that our insurance company would finally cover.  They apparently need to update their list because every one we were picking was not covered anymore... Now, we finally find one that we won't need a translator to understand, and she has great reviews.. and our insurance will no longer cover her starting jan. 1st.  I'm about to lose my mind because of this... I have learned that when it comes to my child, you don't mess with me!!
On a happy note, I think we may take Chloe to see Santa after church... Lets see what sort of picture we will get :)

supermom?

We have been battling Chloe's first sickness.  It is only a cold, so we haven't had to take her to the doctor, but I did buy everything "vapo" (vapo-rub, vapo-bath, vapo-plug in) and some saline drops for her little nose.  She sounds much better today.  I was hoping the "supermom" gene would kick in for me and I wouldn't get sick, but I was wrong. Last night my nose got super stuffy and this morning I woke up really stuffy with a sore throat.
Chloe has really discovered her toes this week.  She has been laying on her back holding on to them.  She has also discovered how to pooch her tongue out by pushing the tip of it against her gums and pushing the center out.  She spends probably 75% of the day doing both of those things. haha! Its very cute.  Right now she is SITTING next to me with only my leg for support on her side.  She keeps grabbing at my hand :) I love this little girl so much and think she just gets cuter and cuter every day.

first trip and first Thanksgiving

Well, we all survived Chloe's first long trip! She did so great in the car both ways! She just sat there and played with toys and books that I would give her.  On the way home she slept quite a bit, but on the way out there she was awake most of it.  Once we got to Illinois she didn't really want to be held by anyone but mommy and daddy most of the time.  Some people got to sneak in some happy holding time, but once she realized they weren't who she thought they were she was screaming.  It made me feel good to be "wanted" by her, but I felt bad that she didn't want anyone else to hold her.  She was all smiles looking at people, but don't touch! haha! While we were eating Thanksgiving dinner with my family she kept eyeballing Mikel's turkey leg and smiling at him! It was too funny! When we had Thanksgiving lunch with Scott's whole family his great Aunt Martha held her while she slept. It was nice to be able to eat with out a wiggle-worm in our arms. (not that I am complaining! I love it!) She had a pretty good day that day because she let almost everyone in Scott's family hold her, but by the end of the day she had enough.  It was overall a very successful and pleasant trip.. as long as I don't think about trying to get her to sleep while we were there! ;) It was nice to be with family, but it is also nice to be home again and have Chloe all to ourselves :)
Chloe is still trying so hard to sit up. She gets her head lifted pretty far, and her little legs stick way up in the air. Yesterday she sat unsupported for both Scott and myself for a few seconds. I'm wondering if she will be sitting up on her own by our next trip home.  She's so strong! She has also started grabbing her feet and holding on to them a lot.  I love every new stage with her and while I don't want her to grow up, I am excited to see who she turns out to be.

3 months old???

Well, my baby girl turned 3 months old on Monday! What on earth happened to the "newborn"? She is 14 lbs. 2 oz and 25 inches long now!! She is trying extremely hard to sit up. She stick her chubby legs up in the air and lifts her head.  If I give her my hands she can pull herself up to sitting.  I am amazed at how strong she is for only being 3 months old.  I guess thats what happens when you have a giant baby though lol!  She reaches out and grabs things now with good intent.  She can sit in her bumbo seat without falling forward. Now, she just leans forward to chew on it. She is sitting on my lap right now leaning into my arm.  She doesn't need a whole lot of support when sitting, but definitely can't sit on her own yet.  She wants so badly to be mobile.  She gets so mad on her belly because she can't move around.  Yesterday she was laying on her back holding both of her feet up by her face. It looked painful to me, but she thought she was funny.
  We put up our Christmas tree yesterday and Chloe loved it! I got what I thought was a small tree for her bedroom. I didn't pay attention to the size, just the small box and price.. it ended up being 4 feet tall!  She loves the sparkly lights.  We put an ornament in her hand and tried to get her to hang it up.. she didn't want to let go haha!  So, we put it on her foot and she hung it with her toes.
She is such a sweet baby. She wraps her arms around my arm almost like a hug.  I laugh at myself because I am with her all day, and still don't want to give her up to Scott when he gets home.  I do, of course, but I love spending time with her!!  I know that financially it is going to be EXTREMELY hard..especially in the winter with our ridiculous heating bill.. but it is worth it to get rid of fancy cable and everything to get to help teach her things and watch her change every day.
I truly believe life can't get any better than it is right now...

yummy milk shake

Wonderful Day!

Well, I can finally confirm that Chloe is my daughter. I had started wondering when she was unhappy every time at the mall... ;) Today, we went to Bass Pro Shops, expecting it to just be that store.  It ended up being attached to a HUUUUGE mall!! Chloe LOVED it! She was so excited she didn't even want to waste time eating. It was so fun to get out of our town and go to this huge, bustling place. We got Chloe's pretty Christmas dress and a silly winter hat for her.  They also had a Disney outlet store (Mommy's favorite part) and we got a Minnie Mouse doll for her.  If it were up to me, I would buy the whole store!
Chloe is growing like a weed! I haven't weighed or measured her in a while, but I know she has grown a ton since last month. I can't believe she will be 3 months old on Monday! She is drooling like a St. Bernard now, and has the sweetest personality.  Everyone in the nursery at church talks about how good she is.  I'm so blessed to have such a happy baby!! We had a rough couple of days this week, but I think she was just in a funk. We are getting ready for our first big trip with her, and I am very nervous!! She has been spoiled with me being home all the time and refuses to take a bottle, so it will be a long trip.  We are also going to be seeing a lot of new people, and I think she is going to get overwhelmed.  I think we'll have to pass on playing hot potato with her this time. Thats the beauty of being Mommy- I get to decide :) I'm so excited for everyone to see how much bigger she is, and just to see our families in general! Its been a LONG time!

mini milestones

Ok, so maybe these aren't milestones.. but definitely signs that my baby is growing up.  She has officially moved up to 3 to 6 month clothing. (her 0 to 3 month stuff wouldn't fit over her head.. I figured it was time to move up a size lol) She has also moved up to size 2 diapers! I want so badly for her to stay little, but I also want so badly to find out who she is going to grow up to be.. and I'm excited and nervous to watch her grow.  My favorite "new" thing is that if I hold my hand out in front her her she will reach out and grab my finger and hold on for dear life.  I love that she can "hold my hand" now- intentionally.

I love this little girl's personality already!

She has always been addicted to her pacifier.. and she has started to reject it at times.  She will make a face, almost like it tastes bad, and then spit it out.  This doesn't happen often, but she is becoming more content to suck on her hands then to have a piece of plastic shoved in her mouth! I love each new day with her and cherish every moment. I realize how incredibly blessed I am to have a happy, healthy baby that I get to spend all day, every day with!

Happy "First" Halloween!!

Well, we celebrated Chloe's first holiday in style.  She was dressed up all cute, the house was decorated, and we had a TOOOONNN of candy to pass out. It was Chloe's first Halloween, and it was hour first time of passing out candy as a married couple. What a let down.  We had 3 kids show up the entire night (and our city has the LONGEST trick-or-treating hours of any other city around here...) I really was so bummed that I almost started crying. If anyone wants candy, stop by! ha! I sat and read "The Belly Button Book" to Chloe while waiting for kids to show up.  We gave up and got on Skype to talk to my mom and dad, and show them her in her costume.  She was cute- and thats all that matters :D

Such a big girl

thanks grandma for my cute onesie!

Chloe is such a big girl now.  She is rolling over.. not quickly.. it takes a lot of work but she's doing it!  She tries to pull up when she holds your hands.. sometimes it just takes a little tug to get her going and she can get the rest of the way up as long as she has your hands.  She can hold onto some of her toys (and mommy's hair!).  Last night, she was swinging at a butterfly I had hanging over her head and she finally figured out how to hit it.  She used mostly her left hand so daddy is pretty excited!  Grandma (Mimi) Manning got to watch her do this on Skype.  Then, she finally caught the butterfly and kept looking at daddy as if to say "look, daddy!! I caught it!!!"  I LOVE this girl!! I am sooo thankful for the blessing of being a parent.

Oh, yes! I am also very excited about this.. I entered Chloe into "the cute kid" contest on parent's magazine.  There are literally thousands of kids in this contest for this week.  She was in 91st place yesterday so we need lots of votes.  She would win a cash prize, and then be entered into the cute kid of the year.. I know its a long shot to win that because it does come down to a popularity contest.. but PLEASE vote if you can :) The link is on my facebook page :)

we have a roller

Chloe has officially rolled over from her back to her tummy!! She was trying REALLY hard, then quit, so daddy went upstairs to change. She started wiggling again and I blinked and next thing I know she is laying all the way on her belly.  Her arm was stuck underneath her so she just laid there.  I yelled for Scott to come down and he came down in time to see her roll back onto her back.  What a big girl... *sigh*

milestones

I wasn't planning on obsessively posting every day, but she is changing so darn fast!  Today (so far haha!) Chloe reached out and grabbed a toy from me.  She dropped it almost immediately, so it may have just been an accident, but it was still pretty neat either way! :)

Girls just wanna have fun!

Chloe is SOOOOOO close to rolling over!! If she could figure out how to get her arm out of the way she would be rolling all over the house! Our baby is getting too big!

Some days I am in awe...

There are some days when I can't believe this is really MY wonderful life!  It seems like just yesterday that I was sitting in the floor of Chloe's room, fat, playing with her things...

....and now I am sitting in her bedroom playing so hard with her that she passes out on the floor!

She is so curious about the world and I love sitting on the floor with her playing with all of her toys.  She watches them all and smiles at the ones that she likes, and frowns at the ones she doesn't like.  She "sits" on my lap and stares at pictures while I read to her. She is such a beautiful girl, and I hope that she ends up as beautiful inside.. I pray all the time about the person she is going to become. Pray that Scott and I can help her to become a kind, loving, and God-fearing *gulp* woman (one day..) For now though, she is my sweet and precious BABY girl!!

hands

Chloe finally saw her hand with her eyes.  She has been holding it up in front of her face, staring in awe! I love these new discoveries! :)

AND.. she's getting too big for her 0-3 month clothes, and shes only 2 months.. 

Our sweet girl in pictures

Crazy, wonderful life

Well, since this is the first post I guess I will just "catch everyone up".  Scott and I have been married for two years and four months.  We moved up to Michigan June 25, 2009 to come work at United Baptist Church with the youth.  We have a WONDERFUL church family that we love very much.  The Lord really has blessed us. We got our CRAZY puppy in July of last year, and it has been an adventure with her, to say the least! Around this time last year we decided that we wanted to start a family.. more than just us and a puppy.  We didn't really "try" but we quit trying to prevent.  God really wanted this for us apparently because I got pregnant in November!!
 Its hard to believe it has been almost a year since we started this INCREDIBLE journey!!  I had a wonderful pregnancy with no complications and hardly any morning sickness.  I was due on Wednesday, August 11, 2010 and went into labor on Thursday, August 12th.  If only it were that easy! FINALLY on Saturday morning around 4 AM I went into the hospital.. only to be sent home.. Around 10 or 11 we went back and we were admitted and they started the drugs to get labor going faster for me! At this point, I hadn't slept for two days so I asked for something to help me sleep.. I don't really remember anything during the time I was "drugged" haha but I remember feeling "gooooood" when they gave it to me!  It was late that night when I was finally given an epidural.  I was in a TON of pain because transitional labor was starting.  It took THREE tries to get the stupid thing to work.  I ended up with an EXTREMELY numb left leg that flapped around while I was actually having Chloe.  After 52 hours of labor, at 3:56 AM on August 15, 2010, Chloe finally entered the world! She was BEAUTIFUL!!  She was screaming a big, LOUD, healthy scream.  She weighed 9 pounds 2 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long.  She is now over 2 months old and weighing in at 12 pounds 3 ounces and 24 1/2 inches long (but her feet have not grown AT ALL!!)
She tries to pull herself up now.  She hates being laid down because she wants to see what is going on, so she spends a lot of time in her bumbo seat.  She smiles a great big, gummy smile that could melt the hardest of hearts.  She talks to us all the time and tries to do exactly what you do, and then gives a great big smile.  I have been trying to get her to make an "mmmmm" sound.  She thinks the fishy face is the funniest thing on earth right now.  She has such a funny personality already and makes some of the funniest faces.  She's a wonderful baby and really only cries when she is hungry.  The turkey eats every two hours still, but has been sleeping through the night for over a week now! WOOHOO!! I feel like that is my first big parental victory!
I am getting excited because I will finally be finishing school in March of this next year and will NEVER go back!! HAHA!! It has been a long, annoying journey and I truly don't think it has been worth it.. but hey, thats life, right?! ;) I'm a stay-at-home-mom and LOVE every minute of it.  I really hope that the Lord provides us with the ability to keep me at home with our beautiful girl at least until she starts school.. but forever would be best :)
Scott and I really feel EXTREMELY blessed and wouldn't change a thing about our lives.