December and January

It's been a little while since I made a post so Dec. and Jan. will be all tied in.. Christmas was so much fun this year..


  

 Chloë got lots of books, clothes and toys..

 We had a night of Chocolate dipping..

TONS of eating..



More food...


Then for New Years we went down to Southern California to meet our good friends fiance, Darby. We had so much fun shopping and going out to eat and playing the wii..

Eating crab at Joe's Crab shack.

Chloe having a blast watching the waiters dance at Joe's..

Congratulations John and Darby! Can't wait to see you in April for the wedding!!

6 months and graduating to Solids!!!

Before I begin I would like to say, Yes these posts may be uninteresting to you, but I keep this blog for Chloë's grandmas. Yes this is a shout out to the grandmas who check the blog for updates. Grandma Renee, Gigi, Nana, Grandma Baird. Chloë has just turned 6 months old! I can't believe she is a half a year old! She is getting sooooo big. She can sit up on her own and I LOVE it. For me it means more pictures!! She just started to eat "real" food. So far sweet potatoes,  Applesauce (cinnamon and regular), butternut squash, yellow squash, and she has never turned down anything I stick in her mouth.This girl LOVES her food! I am so excited to introduce Chloë to a whole new world of food. As crazy as it sounds I am having so much fun with this. I love letting her experience a world of flavors! My cousin Amber was kind enough to give us this baby food that her baby is too big for now. I have also been making and freezing homemade squash, fresh green beans, and berry baby food. I plan to make all of it myself with our handy-dandy bullet. below is a fun video of how serious little miss is about her food!

I'm serious about this food thing ma!

Random strangers

Now that I have a baby random strangers feel the need to come poke, talk to, and even sing and touch little miss. She loves it and shows off her gummy smile and pretty little dimple for them, but I on the other hand find it odd some things people say ( maybe you can help me decrypt them) like the other day "Oh look at her she is such a pretty little lady, Don't be fooled mom she won't melt"  ??? uh OK because I was worried abt that? " Hi saucy pantsies you are sure saucy!" .. saucy? what does that mean? And how is she exuding saucy to the general public? Or at restaurants waiters always bring her a kids menu and crayons and ask what she wants off of the menu.. I understand that they don't know that a baby at 3,4,5 months drinks her meals, but it makes me laugh. And behold my favorite comment "Boy or Girl?" Really?? She is decked out in ALL pink with earrings and a bracelet on and a pink headband. I smile and say "SHE"S a girl."
They also love to give advice which sometimes is beneficial, and sometimes amusing. Such as,"When your baby is hungry and crying you should let them cry for at least 10-15 minutes before feeding them. That way they don't expect things on demand" Sad..   "If you tickle your baby she will stutter when she's older" well if that's true Chloe won't even be able to form sentences when she's older!! So humorous!

Giving Thanks



 

Adam, Chloë, and I all went to Idaho Falls for thanksgiving this year. Miss Chloe did great on the plane. When we arived there was snow :) Great to look at, but oh so cold! Then came the blizzard.. very cold. We got to ejoy new family members, yummy food and lots of  laughter and noise.



Chloë holding Abram



Chloë in the craft room with grandma Baird



Abram and Owen

Belly laughs

I am so thankful

To my Itty bitty-

Sometimes I can't find the words to express what I feel. Sometimes I am too full of emotion to know exactly what I am feeling. You hear 'motherhood is tough.' And it is. Before I had you, I didn't really understand. But then you came into my life. It's the emotional side of it. It's tough. I'm always wondering how you'll turn out, if I'm doing things right. I am a mess when it comes to you. I see myself in you. You're mine. And that's emotionally draining because I want to be the best for you, and hope that I am, but I'm always analyzing myself. And for these reasons in pops the saying 'motherhood is tough.' You'll never know what I'm talking about until you have your babies, Chloe. But for all the trying, emotional uncertainty it brings, along with it comes FAR more JOY! I am so happy being your guardian. I love being your mom and feel so grateful. My darling daughter, I ALWAYS wanted to be your mother. When I was little I used to play with all of my dolls and hold them and cuddle them, and dream of having one of my own. I loved the honor of carrying you in my tummy. I LOVED being pregnant with you. I never felt so important as I did when I was blessed to have the oppertunity to carry you. The first three months of your life were difficult for me, but so worth it! Now you are my smiling, cooing, cubby little miss and I couldn't adore you more! I can't help but dress you up every day and take a ton of pictures of you. I know how badly I will miss these times. I want to soak you in. As I listen to your monitor at night my heart races when I think your choking or not breathing. I have to go in and put my hand in front of your mouth to check. You have always been okay, but I don't know what I would do without you. The thought makes me cry. I am so sad to think you will be eating solids soon and won't need our nursing times as much. I fear I will be one of those women who nurse until your five! I don't want to let you grow up. I am thankful for the time in Italy as I was thinking of having you and I was on the top of a high mountain in San Marino and I went by myself to pray about you, and immediately got my answer. I am thankful god was so blunt with me. I need that. You were so ready to come to our family. I am so blessed. To my darling daughter, I am so very lucky to know you  I love you   love, Mom

Coco loves her doggie

Adam is trying to teach Chloe to be kind and gentle with our dog Ginger. Here she is giving ging love.

Mother, wife, and seamstress?

Now that Chloe is sleeping so well I have had time to sew! These past few weeks I have had such a blast making her things. Bows, headbands, skirts, bibs, appliqued shirts.. Halloween outfits.. So much fun! MORE TO COME!! 

Mommy's lil pumpkin

 Halloween is just around the corner and it has been so warm.. It doesn't feel like fall at all, which I'm sad about. I didn't want to miss out on the festive experiences just because it still feels like summer, so Adam and I took baby Chloë to the pumpkin patch. She looked pretty confused about all of the picture taking, but she complied and we got some great shots of her.

 She looks like she is dazed and confused..

judging by Chloë's face though I'm not so sure she was a fan.

 

Chloë was so exhausted with all of the fun .. Perfect fall day with the family that I adore!!

I love October!

happy fall, all!

We're all balding!!!

Having been a hairstylist I have heard the complaint many times. "My hair is falling out after I had my baby" I guess I never thought it would happen to me because I have so much hair. (Not the best logic) BUT about a month ago I started really losing a lot of hair. I know it's gross to show, but I have to prove my point.. Here is a picture of three days worth of showering.. our poor drain keeps clogging. so gross I know. I knew some people lose hair postpartum but this seems like too much!! Anyone else lose this much hair?? When does it end?I am becoming like my husband and daughter.. Bald!

26!

Yesterday I turned 26.. 26!! I can't believe it. Adam let me sleep in an extra hour.. He took Chloe when she woke and I got a wonderful hour more of sleep!We went to the park, then My friend Jessica and I worked on making Chloe's Halloween costume (she is going to be a flower) Then when Adam came home he took Chloe and I out to Lark Creek for a birthday dinner. Chloe wasn't having any of it. As soon as we got there she started screaming uncontrollably and Adam nor I could help her calm down. I felt pretty stressed out with a packed restaurant filled with people trying to have a nice dinner. And here we are with a sreaming baby in a nice place. So Adam and I took turns taking her outside while the other one ate. It wasn't exactly what I had hoped for my birthday but adam promised me a do-over this weekend! Oh and Adam got me an i-touch gum and bath salts!

Yucky vitamins!

Man I LOVE this kid ! She makes me laugh every day, and today she laughed for the first time REALLY HARD. She is really starting to be fun! I will have to post a video of her sweet baby laughs! This video is of her taking her vitamins, which she hates unless I mix it with milk in a bottle. Did I mention I LOVE HER??

Stranger Danger!

We missed Adam so badly and couldn't wait to come home and see him. When Adam picked us up from the airport he went to hold his little girl and... She got stranger danger! She was so upset she didn't know this man who was holding her! She squealed! and it was hard for us to calm her down. I felt so badly for them both. Chloe didn't have that long of a memory and Adam wanted her to miss him and be happy to see him. I wondered how long it would take her to remember or at least get used to him. Then this morning daddy did his usual made up songs with her and she fell instantly back in love! She now adores her daddy again.. Phew! We don't ever want to be away from him that long again it was too intense for us. We love you adam!

A Busy September

I promised myself that I would do better at this blogging thing. I find it hard to type with only one hand, but am getting used to doing most everything with only one.. I guess thats being a mommy. I try to get on and check e- mail/facebook/blog while nursing Chloe. So please excuse my misspelled words and lack of puncuation. I need to get better at using my left hand so I don't become lopsided lol! September has been packed with travel, family and lots of memories so I'm sorry if this is a long post but I can't pass up the opertunity.

Chloe and I left home on September 1st to see my dad in texas. We had such a great time. My dad and I went fishing, Chloe got to hang out with her Nana and Gigi and we got to experience Canton.

After visiting my Dad's side Chloe and I traveled to see my mom's side of the family. We spent 2 weeks with them and enjoyed lots of game nights, great food and wonderful conversations..

Chloe got her ears pierced!!!

Idaho Vacation

 Chloe and I in McCall Idaho

Chloe sleeping in Daddy's sleeping bag.

Chloe, Adam and I took a trip to Idaho for a family reunion. Here are a few pics of our trip

La Leche!!

Yesterday I had the chance to attend a La leche meeting. They meet once a month and I couldn't make it the previous months so I attended this one. I arrived at ten in the morning to Amy's (the La Leche leaders) home and was the first one there. I desperately hoped it wasn't going to be just her and I there! So Amy introduced herself and her 5 year old daughter Makensie. Makensie is an only child so I figured that Amy had become a La Leche leader a few yrs ago when she was nursing Makensie... wrong.. Amy was still nursing Makensie!!! At 5!! Wait wait it gets worse.. After abt 30 minutes people started showing up. First a lady who's name I forget comes in and I think.. well she isn't nursing she must be in her sixties. So I asked how many children she had had and she told me 5 in nine years, and that she nursed each for 4 YEARS EACH!! Yes that's right 4 years!! That's a lot of over lapping! There was also a lady who had a 3 and a half year old who was tandem nursing with her 4 month old.. I don't know how these women do that!! Another ladies three year old kept coming up to her and lifting up her shirt to nurse.It was very interesting but what I really admired about these ladies is that there was no shame they truly embraced nursing their children, whether 5 mos or five years, I must say I've never seen so many ladies breasts out all at once!!

Chloe's bath time 6 wks old

   Chloe loves her bath time! She even gave a quick smile!!

Chloë and Mommy

Thank goodness that Chloe is a much cuter baby than I! I looked like a little Asian redheaded baby. For all of you who wanted to see a pic of Chloe and I as an infant.. here you go. I wish I had a better pic, this is a picture of a picture. Thats as good as I can get right now. I am starting to see little things about baby Chloe that are mine, like her little wrinkled hands, maybe her eyes, and her little feet are starting to rememble mine. She has started to smile and we are both getting more sleep these days. I am really starting to enjoy her more and more. I am feeling an intense love for this little girl.                                                     

I loved you from the very start,

You stole my breath, embraced my heart.

Our life together has just begun

You're part of me my little one.

As mother with child, each day I grew,

My mind was filled with thoughts of you.

I'd daydream of the things we'd share,

Like late-night feedings and Teddy bears.

Like first steps and skinned knees,

Like bedtime stories and ABC's.

I thought of things you'd want to know,

Like how birds fly and flowers grow.

I thought of lessons I'd need to share,

Like standing tall and playing fair.

When I first saw your precious face,

I prayed your life be touched with grace.

I thanked the angels from above,

And promised you unending love.

Each night I lay you down to sleep,

I gently kiss your head and cheek.

I count your little fingers and toes;

I memorize your eyes and nose.

I linger at your nursery door,

Awed each day I love you more.

Through misty eyes, I dim the light,

I whisper, "I love you" every night.

I loved you from the very start,

You stole my breath, embraced my heart.

As mother and child our journeys begin,

You have daddy's skin and your mommy's chin.

Our week in a nut-shell

How our saturday go these days- Adam and I took Chloe to the post office today and weighed her on the scales in the lobby. She weighs 9lbs 12.8 oz.! After the scales we went to the park and Chloe had her first picnic!

We had a long day of hanging out around the house so we decided to take the baby out to the grocery store, post office, and park.. Woo! pretty exciting huh? lol

My dad, step mom, and sister came down to visit this week.We really enjoyed having them here. Chloe fell in love with her Papaw! It looks like she is scared in this picture, but really she adored him. My dad even got Chloe's name tattooed on his arm when we went to Haight and Ashbury in the city. So I guess he fell in love with her too!

Chloë or clonë?

Chloë in the above picture

Adam above

Chloë above

    Adam above

Do you see it or is it just me?

One month old!

My little Chloe is one month old!! I can't believe I have a one month old daughter!! She is getting so chubby. She already has a double chin! I love her so much. She is cooing and making eye contact with us when talk to her. She is a little feisty at times, expecially when she is hungry. She loves bath time and being held. I worry about her happiness all of the time and if she is feeling loved enough or if she is bored. I suppose most people have more family around to give their babies extra love and it's only Adam and I here in the bay area. I hope that will be enough. She is just so tiny and innocent. She is so new from heaven and I feel a heavy responsibility.

Bless this child

Chloe was blessed July 4th 2010. Adam's parents came down for the blessing. It was a beautiful blessing. Chloe's daddy blessed her with faith and discernment and among many things she was blessed to keep good friends around her and my favorite part was that she will look to me to be her example and that her and I will have a close relationship. I was so proud of Adam getting up in front of all of those people and blessing our child. I feel so blessed to have such a loving husband who adores me and my baby daughter.