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.