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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Yuck Yuck.

It's 7:15.
Chloe has been up since 5 something. It used to be that she slept until 7, but it appears that every week her sleep gets cut down by a 1/2 hour or so. Not good.
It's 7:15.
I've just survived the most gruesome of Chloe's Poop Chronicles to date. I am thinking of renaming the blog. Chloe's poop chronicles has a nice ring to it. I fed her prunes the last two nights. I really should have known, but why would they sell prunes as jarred baby food if they were such a laxative for babies?? Wouldn't they post a warning label on the front?
Caution: Feeding your Baby Prunes will result in a full-blown blowout. Feed at your own risk!
Or perhaps it's just our kid.
The first night, no problems. This morning: an entirely different story.

I heard the telltale sign of a problem as she was playing in her high chair this morning. I looked over to see a pretty red face (typical), but what was out of the ordinary was the still-as-a-statue pose she had adopted since the time of the 'problematic sound'. Something seems to have scared her stiff.

Not good I think to myself... I lug her up to her room to check out the damage and as I lay her down on her changing pad, I realize my arm has become one with the poop. And let me tell you, prune poop is not like formula poop. Oh no my friends. I won't go into the gory details but trust me. Avoid (tar) prunes. Sorry. I couldn't help some of the details.

Needless to say, the kid literally got hosed off in the shower, and then got a serious bath. Which she loves. I'm thinking she did this on purpose so she could splash around in the bath. (Cutest thing EVER to watch).
Lesson Learned: Constipated Baby? Try Prunes!!

It's 7:23, Chloe is happily off in dreamland. Probably for 1/2 an hour. Does anyone have a naptime solution? She gets about 30 minutes of a nap in the early morning and then she's basically up. For the DAY. Yup. Miss No Nap. Nothing New. Same as the day she was born. Miss the action? "Heck No" she says!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Attention Please.


The Following Is (not) A Paid Announcement:
It Turns out...
I've just become a part of the soccer mom club.

I never in a million years would have thought it would come to this.

Details:
Chris' truck = on the serious fritz (is that a word?), not to mention it's only a 2 seater!
Jen's Jeep = getting to be a little pain to get a kid into... not to mention it can hardly contain the three of us when we go away for a 3 day weekend.

How it went Down:
We started looking for a car for Chris that will serve its purpose and just get him to work and home, but we realized we needed a little more than that, so we started exploring our mini-van options... Yikes!

The Goods:
We stumbled upon a ridiculously great condition 2006 Nissan Quest. It is not your average mini-van. This thing has some serious zip. We ended up getting a great deal, the doors and back hatch open with the push of a button (which I LOVE) and we got it in the most ridiculously gorgeous White Pearl color. Have I mentioned it has zip??

Lesson Learned: Mini-Vans Rock.
I have to say, it was bittersweet driving away from the Jeep yesterday. (No, silly! We're keeping the Jeep and truck, but the Jeep is Chris's main car now!!) I told Chris last night that it was just weird, it's not that the Jeep quit on me or I just wanted to get rid of it, it's actually the opposite. I was and am still very much in love with the Jeep. It was the first car I actually made payments on and had in my very own name. Hopefully someday it can forgive me. I know my back has already started to forgive me. Seriously. Come take the kid in and out of this car. You'll buy one too. Even if you don't have kids.

I'll leave you with a couple pictures from last week.


This was the only picture where chloe was even looking remotely near the camera. Too much going on I suppose!

Friday, March 27, 2009

I could just eat you up.

That is how I feel when I see Chloe. Doesn't matter if her face is covered in peas or she's crying. I can't help but find her fat little cheeks and gummy smile absolutely delicious. It's the best dessert on earth.


Here's a teaser. Yup. I have too many pictures to get around to right now. But fear not, I am properly chronicling her life through pictures. You just might have to come here to see them!!

Monday, March 16, 2009

We're Baaaaccckkkk

We're back from Big Sur and had a great time!
If you count a sick baby that refuses to sleep in her pack and play a great time.
I'm kidding (not about the sleeping part), we really had SO much fun.
Our cabin was so neat...

...it was nestled in between the tallest trees and backed up to the Big Sur River.


It was beyond peaceful.

Saturday we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and take a hike at the Andrew Molera State Park. It's an AWESOME hike and I'm so glad we decided to do it.



What a good husband! He got a great workout, that's for sure.
Chloe, not so much. She was a trooper but hated when the wind would blow on her face.


The reward at the end:

We then decided, Heck, it's only another 25 miles to Monterey, let's go there!
So we did.

And we had a great time.

It's especially exciting taking Chloe; she's been there before, but she just wasn't born yet!
She definitely liked the outdoors; please forgive her snotty nose; there was only so much we could do.



As always, we had to stop at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park for a "hike' to our favorite viewpoint.




It seems I've been replaced by something far cuter in these pictures.
Totally okay by me. :)
But there was a time...



That's all folks. I'm off to try and feel better. Oh, did I forget to mention I got Chloe's cold? Yeah. Good times in our household.
We already miss our vacation.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Economy

One of the blogs that I read brought up the state of the economy today. It's a post that I think a lot of bloggers have thought about, but it's a touchy subject I haven't seen addressed.
Her question to her readers was about how the economy was affecting them personally.
I read through a lot of peoples comments and each one brought me pain. It's so so so sad to hear about good people falling on hard times, and it's no longer just a few people, every person is being affected in one way or another. I thought it was getting ugly for us when we realized we had (oh so very) negative equity in our home. But, to be honest, somehow we're doing well. Chris has been asked to take on a new project at work (which is a HUGE compliment) and there's a promotion looming in the future for him.
I'm not saying that means we're safe. It's still the world of government contracting (which I've learned more about in the last few years than I think I ever wanted to know), but so far, it looks like we are doing alright for the time being. We're being careful with our spending and are cautiously optimistic about the future.
I hope the economy isn't too hard on you and your loved ones.
You are in our thoughts.

To read nesters blog post (and some of the comments), visit... Economy

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Easter Bunny


My little ham is finally realizing that my new camera is not an evil monster. She actually will smile for it now!

That being said, she also seems to have contracted some little bug.

Hopefully it doesn't morph into something bigger before Big Sur... but if you ask me... a little R&R is exactly what the dr. ordered.

And I'm sorry... but doesn't everyone with a daughter just live for stuff like this?!
Tar-jay's 1.00 aisle. Seriously the bestest thing on earth.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

6 Months


Hello my darling Chloe,
Today you are 6 months old.

That leaves me wondering where in the heck the last 6 months went. I can't believe you've been in our lives for so long, but at the same time it's hard to remember the how our lives were without you. Everything your daddy and I do is for you!
I love to see the relationship you are building with your daddy. It's too cute to see you hanging out. You totally have him wrapped around your finger.

We get a kick out of your silly personality. You can be all giggles one second and then stare us down with your eyebrows the next. You have the most expressive eyebrows in the world. Unfortunately, a lot of the looks we get with them are something along the lines of
"who in the heck are these crazy fools" ...

...or "I'm stuck with you guys for HOW long?"

...or "Your tricks are old. Learn some new ones. I am NOT laughing at old material"
Yes. Your eyebrows can tell us ALL of those things. Don't worry about the whole talking thing; your eyebrows do it for you.

You also roll like a crazy woman. You throw caution into the wind and roll until you've found something interesting. We're still working on the crawling thing, and so far it's proven really frustrating. It's ok. Once you crawl, it's all over.

You are also fabulous at sitting up now, I am still in shock at how quickly you learned to sit.

It was like one day you were a wobbly wilma and the next day you could sit for a LONG time before finding something that caught your interest and toppling towards it.

It's funny to see you catch yourself just as you're about to tumble, you've figured out how to use your arms and legs to steady yourself.

Then, you look up and give us the biggest grin. So cute.

Your daddy has been trying very hard to get you to say Mama, which means a lot to me - I would have figured he'd have you saying Dada by now! You're getting closer, especially when you're unhappy or fussy, you let out a little maaaaaaaaaaaaaa haha. Like a little sheep. It works and I usually come rescue you. From the awful top of the line toys you're subjected to playing with. I am such a sucker for you.

Eating. You are still a crazy eater. Your appetite is unreal. I give you your serving of peas and you SCREAM bloody murder when I stop feeding you. You are so demanding. We're moving on to Sweet Potatoes tonight as a surprise. Hehe. I'm so lucky that you're still taking only 3 bottles a day, 7 am, 1 pm, 7 pm. I love that you took so well to our routine.

(You are having a BLAST in these pictures from the park; turns out you really dig ducks)


Your sleep, however, is becoming questionable.

I'm not going to complain but the time change seems to have screwed your internal clock up just a tad. You still sleep (usually uninterrupted) for 10.5 hours. Not too shabby.

Believe me, I know it's a fabulous blessing that you sleep so well at night. It's rare that I have to get up and give you a pacifier between those hours.
Naps, however, are another story entirely. Another day.

You are still a fabulous dinner/lunch companion as well as a great shopping buddy. Whenever we take you to dinner, you seem to quite enjoy being the queen and just having everyone stare at you. Same thing for shopping. No matter where we are, everyone wants to touch you, ask about you or try and get a smile out of you.

90% of the time you are more than happy to oblige.
The other 10%? Watch out. It's those eyebrows again.
More and more now, people are noting how great you are in your car seat when we're out. You've never had a meltdown while we're out and I never have to worry about you becoming unhappy while we're out. I know the time will come for that.

And, I'm sorry, but you are developing the most gorgeous hazel eyes I've ever seen.


Love You!!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Tick, Tick, Tick. (AND a Boston Update!)

See the little ticker above??
It says Chloe is 1 day shy of being 6 months.
For some reason, i feel like when I wake up tomorrow, she'll be standing in her crib talking.
I know it's completely impossible, but still. It just seems so old.
She's already 1/36th of the way out of the house.
Thanks to Chris for the fabulous calculation.

I look back at Chloe's cousin Ashley's blog a lot to see what she was doing and how much hair she had at certain points in her life to compare with Chloe (they're 1 year and like 4 days apart or something crazy).
Anywho,
Hmm. Where was I going with this...
Oh yeah.
My sister (and Ashley) booked their tickets to Boston today and they are sitting right next to us! CHAOS!
Anyway,
I happened upon a post in Ashley's blog from last year from when my sister Christina brought Chloe's cousins Taylor and Alex to visit from Boston last year. I loved that visit, but it was too short (they all are!)
I had such a fabulous time with everyone. When the sisters and cousins get together, well, those memories last forever. I appreciate every minute I get to spend with my nieces, but it's especially nice to see my sisters. Especially now that we all have kids. I feel like the 12 year age difference between us is cut down to almost nothing. The only thing between us these days is geography.

Anyway,
I'm just getting really excited for our trip. I can't wait to see my glowing and pregnant sister and catch up with my nieces who must be like 15 years old by now. Ok. Totally an exaggeration.

I promise that tomorrow I will return to our original programming and Chloe's 6 month post will make a lot more sense that this excited garble.

Taa Taa!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Administrative Stuff

Ok.
So here's the deal;
I know it's a pain checking daily to see if I've updated.
So... I've made it easier for you!

I'm gonna break this down for the grandparents in the world.
I promise this is super easy.

Look in the left column. There are a couple different subscription options. If you have a reader, subscribe on there.
If you just said to yourself,
"What is a reader? Do I have one?"
Subscribe through email.

By the way: I removed the requirement to type in those dumb letters that never make sense and you can hardly read when commenting. I'm sure you'll be commenting now, right?!

Friday, March 6, 2009

Finally!

Well...

I'm sure Chris probably thought it would never end, but yesterday, he took his LAST final~!
He is done (except for a few assignments he has to finish up)...

What a huge accomplishment.

He managed to do it with fabulous grades, a pregnant wife (followed by a screaming infant) AND a full time job.

I am so grateful for everything he does and I know Chris is always going to be a role model for our kids.

Except they are required to go to college and just get it done.

Before they have families that require their attention.


We got our taxes done a couple weeks back and you could tell the tax lady was Shocked at everything Chris does. Not so impressed by me.
Job: SAHM.
Pay: Crummy.
Unless you count Spit-Up as a form of payment...
...In which case I'm rich.
If you ask me, it's more like payback.
Rewards: Indescribable.

In Chloe news...
The bathtub just keeps getting better for the little lady.
She splashes like a crazy woman.

It really should be a two person affair, but daddy was at his final during this so the pictures are a little blurry.

If you want a better picture, you should come give her a bath yourself. It's good ole' fashioned fun.

Just don't forget to get rid of any stray peas her neck may be holding hostage.


We watched Gabby last weekend and Chris and I were amazed at her ability to nibble on her feet.
We came to the conclusion that perhaps Chloe was just not as flexible.

Turns out, she can do it JUST fine.


Turns out she can also do more than just nibble.