Katie and Joel's Family

Just some pics

2010-03-13T18:32:00.002-05:00

My cuties hanging out together.

Look at that bright smile, she's an angel.

Little Chloe, she's a star!

Happy Birthday Chloe!!!

2009-08-13T22:43:00.000-04:00

2009-06-16T15:56:00.002-04:00

This is from our first day home. It was also the first time I got to see her in something other than her diaper. I think the poor thing was a bit wore out!

This is our second day home. We already had a dr appt scheduled to have her weight and biliruben levels checked. Her levels were up, but it was such a small amount they basically said she was maintaining that level as opposed to increasing.

This is Madalynn later in the day while Chloe laid on the couch asleep. I put her in her bouncer seat with her biliruben pad to give her a change of pace.

One of the sad side affects of the biliruben light pad is that it seems to be giving her awful diaper rash. We change her quite frequently so I'm pretty sure it has to be the added heat from the pad making her bottom so red and tender. We decided to let her be bare while we fed and burped her last night. This is Joel holding her. He was so worried she was going to pee on him, which she did, but come on, it's just baby pee! She just looked so cute cuddled on him like this.

Today Chloe actually consented to holding her baby sister. She has been very good with Madalynn, she just keeps her distance a lot and seems a bit unsure of her yet. We don't want to rush her so we've been encouraging her but waiting for her to make the first move. It was so cute to see her hold Madalynn, if it was only for a second. We got a picture of it so that was great.
Chloe has been totally cute to watch, she'll come up and talk to her if she's crying, or sometimes she will just rub her head. We love it! Having a little bitty baby makes me realize how big Chloe is getting and that makes me sad. I don't really want to see my babies grow up. I just have to keep reminding myself to take it one day at a time. Anyway, that's a little of what is going on right now.

Madalynn's Debut!

2009-06-13T19:43:00.002-04:00

Here is Madalynn making her entrance into the world. They had some problems getting her out as she has very wide shoulders. The assisting nurse had to get a stool to help give her more leverage to push on my stomach to help squeeze Madalynn out.

Here she is somewhat cleaned off. She surprised me by coming out at 9lbs 8 oz. I expected maybe 8 1/2 lbs.
Here are the grandparents peeking through the blinds waiting for me to get out of recovery. This is Joel's favorite picture. I suppose there isn't a lot to do while you're waiting for the mommy to get out of surgery and recovery though.

She did have somewhat high levels of biliruben so they have her on phototherapy to treat her jaundice. I was pretty upset about it at first because it seemed like we couldn't get a break. She was in the nursery for the first day and a half so they could moniter her respirations and heart rate. She has higher than "normal" respirations but they have decided that it is just the way she breathes. They did take off all the monitors when they put her back in our room today so that was very nice. This way, when we hold her, there aren't a ton of cords hanging everywhere for us to worry about. Now we are just waiting for her biliruben levels to drop so we can take her home hopefully tomorrow!
Here she is today, we were trying to get Chloe to stand next to her to we could get a pic of the 2 of them together but Chloe isn't that comfortable with her yet. It didn't help when Chloe saw Madalynn's belly button, or rather the shriveled up black thing that will become her belly button. Chloe was very disgusted by it and wouldn't even touch me while I was holding Madalynn until I covered it back up. Joel and I got a good laugh from it. I found out tonight that the only other baby here right now weighs 4 pounds less that my little Madalynn. I have to say that Madalynn is a very good baby so far. It can't be easy spending so much time in a bassinet with your eyes covered and while she fusses a little, it could be so much worse and I'm surprised it isn't. She loves being held and cuddled and we love to hold and cuddle her. Can't wait until we are home and we don't have to worry about light therapy. Anyway, we'll put up more later!

Baby Madalynn

2009-04-27T23:01:00.002-04:00

So we had our 3-D ultrasound Friday. The woman had a hard time getting clear shots because the umbilical cord was floating in front of Madalynn's face. So the shots look a bit distorted and that's why. We were told that she weighed 4 lbs 11 oz. That is about a pound more than average for her "age". She has a bit of hair ( I have to take the doctor's word for it, I still have a hard time figuring out what everything is). We were also told that Madalynn would probably be at the average newborn weight of 7 lbs 12 oz - 8 lbs by June 5th and our c- section is scheduled for June 11th. It seems like there is a good chance Madalynn will weigh as much as Chloe did but be born 2 weeks sooner. She looks like she has very chubby cheeks that we can't wait to kiss!

I keep forgetting this thing uploads the pics in the opposite order that I pick them. I wanted to save this one for near last. But, anyway, we KNOW that Madalynn is a girl! I've had a couple of die hard friends swear up and down I was having a boy. Something about me eating "man food" and other crap. This girl loves her cheeseburgers (home cooked off the grill complements of Joel) and corn dogs (preferably from the oven so they have that nice crisp breading!) and lots of mustard!

This is one of her feet. They were both visible but I guess she pulled one away before we got the shot. If you look you can see her little toes in the upper middle left of the picture. I think it is very obvious but I've had more than one person not see it.

She looks like she is puckering up for a big kiss in this one, I think.

This one looks like she is grinning. She's already a happy baby! Let's hope that's what it is anyway.

I don't know if Chloe gets it yet. We went to see my sister Thur after her c-section and Chloe was fine with petting the baby and saying "aww, cute baby" over and over. When I tried to get her to hold the baby though, that was something else. She turned away and didn't want anything to do with him. By him I mean Noah. She kept peeking at him Sunday when we went over for supper too. We have to watch her because she doesn't get the whole fragile baby thing yet. I'm really hoping she is going to be happy about having a sister once Madalynn is here. The sooner she loves her and decides the new baby is a good thing the easier life will be for me and Joel.

Easter

2009-04-13T22:40:00.003-04:00

These pics loaded backwards so this will be from the end to the beginning. This was the egghunt at my mom and dad's house. My soon to be brother in law thought it would be fun to hide the eggs way up in the porch rafters. We gave Chloe a leg up so she could get them.

This is the egg hunt at our house for Joel's mom and dad. Paul and Joel hid the eggs, Joel had to keep Paul in line to make sure the eggs weren't too hard to find. Chloe did a pretty good job of finding them all.

And here is Chloe getting a little help from her daddy finding eggs and carrying that big heavy basket around.

It took a little bit to get her up and around. Once she saw the candy in her basket though she was ready to go.

We are trying to get her to get up. She kept rolling over like she was still asleep and couldn't hear us but she could. She kept grinning a little grin while she was playing opossum. She's not really a morning person unless it is comepletely on her terms. She often sleeps until 10 if able. Not that I mind, being a night owl myself. You can guarantee that if Joel and I have the day off she's up at the crack of dawn, I don't know why it always happens like that.

Chloe's new room!

2009-04-13T22:26:00.004-04:00

This is before we pulled off the tape and put the room back together.

The wooden letters I got and painted. I already have Chloe's but I have to repaint them because they are currently pink and blue and they don't match Madalynn's. Chloe's are a lot easier to hang since she only has 5 to space. This was a pain!

Madalynn's changing table in the other corner. I was very happy with how the room turned out.

And another shot of this side of the room. Chloe's bed wasn't in here yet so I don't have a pic. This corner is where the crib will be though.

And here is Chloe's dresser and her Dora table and the chest we had made for her 2nd b-day. Her bed will sit across from the dresser. Well, it is already back in there now. The mirror on her dresser left a weird glare on the wall. Now, if only we could afford to update the hideous carpet. Too bad you can't just paint it too!! I love how the room came out. It's looks like a whole new room. You can compare it to the pics we took when we first got the house and see the difference. Sometime soon we will be doing the stairwell and our bedroom. Our bedroom will probably be during my maternity leave, I think that's what Joel said, but after this room he may have changed his mind!

A little of this and that

2009-04-13T22:12:00.002-04:00

We were taking Chloe's picture and she kept trying to get right in front of the camera. In the process of me trying to position her farther back she lost control of herself and dissolved into giggles. This is a picture of her mid belly laugh!

Chloe loves to paint, color, anything that can make a mess. She has watercolor paints that she uses alot. Recently, Chloe has found her calling as an artist. She paints me like 50 pictures in a row. I think all but one of these was a dinosaur. I asked for a puppy and she obliged and then she was back to painting dinosaurs, roar and all.

Here is Chloe catching a ride on Joel's back. One of her favorite things to do is jump on our backs any time she gets a chance.

Just a Quick Catch Up

2009-03-29T23:10:00.003-04:00

She was having some tomato soup with her dad and somehow got it on her nose. Just thought it was cute!

So Chloe has been doing very well with her potty training. She just takes care of business whenever the need strikes without us asking and we love it! Today, she apparently needed a drink to help her pass the time. I thought it was funny seeing her on her potty with a drink.

Chloe's favorite activity is bath time. Tub tub as she likes to call it. She would take a few baths a day if I let her.

She had some hawaiian punch while watching a movie and I guess she decided to stick her hand in the cup. There wasn't punch anywhere except on her. I could not believe how red her hand was. This was why she had to have the above pictured bath.

Here is Chloe out enjoying her big wheel on our city sidewalks! She refuses to learn how to peddle though. We went halfway around the block on it until we ran into tree roots and decided to head back home. We had fun that day though! As for the pregnancy, I passed my glucose screening which was great because for Chloe I had to go back for the 3 hr test and it was not fun. They said all my test results were good and I was very happy about that. Madalynn has been moving quite a bit. I tried to get Chloe to sit still long enough to feel her but she just doesn't have that much patience. I finally got to hear her heartbeat without the help of an ultrasound at my last appointment. It only took 27 weeks to get to that point! The bad side of the pregnancy is that I have started having RLS. That is restless leg syndrom for those who aren't aware. So since sleeping isn't hard enought the way it is, I can't lay still long enough to fall asleep. It has made things rather difficult and me rather crabby. You can only go so long on 3-4 hrs sleep everyday before you snap! Joel is very understanding thankfully! And as for the people who want a picture of my fat prego body, tough luck, not happening!!! lol Just take my word that I have gotten much, much, much bigger in the belly area. I can still tie my own shoes so long as I haven't eaten too much.

Baby News

2009-02-20T20:06:00.003-05:00

So, many of you probably already know, but Joel and I are expecting a baby girl, a little sister for Chloe! It was awesome, yesterday I went to Walmart with Chloe and we picked out a dress for her and then she saw another dress that she liked and picked up, and I, of coarse, had to say ok, we can get it. I noticed a rack of baby clothes with the same dresses on it and I decided that if we found out we were having a girl I was going back to get it. Well, we saw our little girl's parts and after we left and had breakfast I headed to Walmart to get a dress like Chloe's for the baby! I ca't wait to dress them alike! Not all the time, but they are going to be soo cute together! Anyway, I scanned a few pics of the ultrasound and took a pic of the dresses so everyone can get a gander! I'm also a little worried about how Chloe will handle everything, she really likes the baby's car seat!

Snow Day

2009-01-31T13:49:00.002-05:00

I finally took Chloe outside to play. I'm sort of a worry wort and I don't really like the thought of letting her play when it's freezing outside. I have to get over it! But we went out and she had a lot of fun. I was helping her pick up the big chunks of snow to throw. Here she is with the biggest!

She spent most of her time trying to pick up snow to throw. Sometimes at me and sometimes just wherever. And sometimes it just flew back in her face. The look on her face was priceless but I didn't get a picture of it.

She fell backwards and couldn't get up. She didn't care, she continued to throw snow at me from the ground!

She really just loves to have her picture taken. Anytime she sees the camera it's "cheese, cheese, cheese!"

Here she is on her rocking horse! She finally got the horse she's been asking for. I'm not sure if this was what she really had in mind, but she seems to like it. Just a few pics though of our fun snow day!

Long time no post!

2009-01-21T19:23:00.003-05:00

So it's been a while since I've gotten anything on here. I'd say we've just been crazy busy, but I'm sure I've been just a bit lazy too! We are pretty well settled into the new house. We still have a few boxes in the basement that need to be finished off, but we're pretty much in no hurry. Here are a few pics to show some of what we've been up to. This is Joel showing Chloe how to dip a cookie. She wanted to dip everything after that. A few nights later I had some oreos and milk and I had given her a little cup with a bit of soda in it. She came over and got a cookie, which was no big deal until I realized she was dipping it in her coke! GROSS!! She wasn't eating it though. Or not much of it. It took me 4 or 5 cookies to realize that they were all laying mushed up in the bottom of her cup. Yummy!

This is Chloe with her homemade eggnog on Christmas Eve at my parents' house. She looks like she may have snuck a bit of the non virgin stuff, but I promise, this was alcoholic free!! The eggnog mustache was the best though!

Here she is excited to see what was in that wrapping paper. She got a little frustrated at times trying to tear open the shiny wrap that wouldn't rip, so I had to help out.

This cracked me up. She came walking out of her playroom with Mr. Potato Head glasses on and a fake mic. I nearly wet myself laughing at how creative she was dressing up!

Apparently, she got really wore out watching me trying to unpack and put things away. She curled up behind the rocker against a box and I don't know what all and fell asleep. I have no idea how she was able to lay like that, but she managed it.

Anyway, the pregnancy is going well. I find out next month the sex of the baby (hopefully). I will then know if we are pretty well set or if I need to get bargain hunting in blue. Classes started back up last week. I took myself down to 2 classes to try to give myself a little more time this semester. Still trying to get Chloe to realize what the potty is really for and that it is better than diapers. She's got 5 more months and if she still is in diapers I may just send her to potty boot camp. We really only want one in diapers. Well, the little one is kicking me off the computer. She wants to watch SpongeBob and Joel is watching the tv so I have to play her DVD on the computer. One tv is such a joy!!

House Update

2008-11-23T16:18:00.003-05:00

So we closed on our house on the 17th. We went over that evening to start moving and cleaning. We moved a bit more Tue but not much because we both had to work long days. We hauled almost the rest over Wed including our beds and spent our first night there. Thur night we went and got the last of our stuff (we think) and took it to the new house. We had to buy new box springs because we couldn't fit ours up, so we got to spend a few hundred on split box springs! That was not exciting. Yesterday, Paul and Vicki took Chloe at noon and kept her until after 6. Joel was at work, but I got a ton of unpacking done! These pics are from today and just yesterday the living room and dining room were full of boxes. The dining table was in the middle of the living room, it was crazy. It looks tons better, but we still have a ton of work left to do. The bedrooms upstairs are really a fright. I have to look through 5 or 6 boxes to find my clothes because we have spent so much time downstairs trying to make it presentable. Chloe's room is pretty well put away, it desperately needs some paint though. I got some pics on the wall, and put some of her nic nacs in there to make it seem more like her room until we can give it a pretty wall color. We love our house though, and we live right next to a sheriff which is pretty comforting! Anyway, I'll try to put some more pics up when we get a little further with the unpacking to keep everyone up to date.

Our pretty kitchen that is very cluttered because, sadly, it lacks in counter and cabinet space. We are working on a solution to that though.

The computer/play room. We need to go through the toys some more because there are way too many in here and we already took half up to Chloe's room.

Our mantle with tons of pics on top because I haven't gotten around to nailing them up.

The living room view from the dining room. Looks a little messy but I have a 2 year old playing, so I suppose that's going to happen.

The dining room view from the living room. Joel's tools are on the table, don't know why. And our unusable box springs are against the far wall until we can figure out what to do with it. We really like our table and chairs. They look really nice and we got them for a good price ( at biglots!). It seats at least 6 comfortably so I'm happy with it!

2008-10-20T21:10:00.003-04:00

Our fireplace in the living room. Although it apparently isn't really meant for fires! He suggested putting in a gas log.
Looking from the living room to the dining room.
The kitchen and part of our inspectors body.
The bathroom with no shower, but there is one in the basement which will do for now.
Chloe upstairs in her room which looks just like our room. Everything has gone through and or been approved, so now we are only waiting for our 401 k distribution which has been approved but I don't know how long it will take to get the money and we can't close without it done and the money in our account. Almost there though!!

Thank goodness those are washable!

2008-09-14T13:32:00.002-04:00

Joel gave Chloe a tattoo the other night. She was playing with her washable markers and I don't know who started it, but I hear Joel telling Chloe "Go show mommy." So I knew something was up and as soon as she walked in the room I saw her tattoo. She was so proud of it. So I went into the living room and they were just beginning....
Joel gave her a second tattoo that was supposed to be the navy or something, I don't really know.
It didn't take Chloe long before she started drawing all over herself. She gave herself a total facial makover!
Nathayden wanted in on all the fun too. I don't know if he did much of this or if his mom did. Poor kid! He really loved it actually.
Yeah, Chloe had marker everywhere. She came after me with it too. I let her draw on my feet. Joel drew on my lower back and I wrote DORK in blue on his forehead. I was laughing so hard I was crying. Some people might think we are bad parents for encouraging our child to draw on herself, but it washes right off and she wasn't coloring on the walls. We had so much fun, I don't care about the big mess we had to clean up before bed!

Happy Happy Birthday to You!!!

2008-09-10T22:28:00.003-04:00

Time to open gifts and Chloe is more concerned with making her party favor work!
I'm pretty sure she was more excited than she looked while she was opening this. She was probably just reading the fine print or checking to see if batteries were included.
There we go, she finally got it figured out. She had lots of fun with these.
Time to blow out the candles. Well, candle, with just a little help from mom.

And Chloe with her mustache after the cake and ice cream. She pulls it off pretty well I think!

It's a little late, but better than never I suppose. Chloe enjoyed all her gifts and I enjoyed all the clothes she received! We had a great time with everyone that showed up. Funny thing was that just with Megan and the kids we had a pretty full house! I'm kidding! Anyway, it was a great time and I'm so glad for the family and friends we had had there! Hopefully we can do it again next year, depending on where everyone plans on being.

If at first you don't succeed....

2008-08-15T23:50:00.005-04:00

So just a little update for anyone interested. I've been trying to work with Chloe again on potty training. We took a little break because she was very adamant that she was not going to use the potty as intended. So I was off this past Wed and I thought it would be great to put Chloe's panties on and try to get her to use her potty chair. After deciding that maybe she didn't have to go just yet I pulled her underwear up and let her get down to playing. I hear her whining and look up to see her with a frightened face, legs spread, and pee running down her leg. I grab her up and set her on her potty, panties still in place to let her finish. I give her a few minutes then take her into the bathroom to get her cleaned up and put fresh panties on. I let her go about her business since she just peed and she probably won't have to go for awhile. Not ten min later, she comes up, pulling at me. I jump up thinking, "yes, this is it, she's ready to go on the potty!" I hurry her to her potty chair, pull her underwear down, and realize, she already went. How did I know this, well, the poo that fell onto the floor was a pretty big indicator! So, I take small comfort in knowing that she did not like the poo in her panties, unfortunately, it didn't stop her from putting it there. I just want her potty trained before winter so all her winter pants will fit. It's a snug fit over the diaper. I'm sure that sounds a little horrible, but if she can't get out of her diapers, she won't have any pants to wear because of the way she is shaped! Anyway, poor girl has been sick for about a week, she looks like I beat her on a daily basis, and she hasn't been eating very well. I really hope it is just a kid thing to be so klutzy, but I don't know. She may have inherited it from me, and for that I am very sorry!

2008-07-23T22:09:00.003-04:00

Yeah, Chloe's turning 2!! I'm excited but scared too. It doesn't feel like she should be as big as she is. As I was copying her pictures on here I was looking through all the pics from birth through today and I don't know where the time has gone, but she has changed so much! Silly girl, this wasn't quite what we were going for in the pose, but the face was so cute I had to put it up.
This was the cutest picture ever! I don't know what started it, but the girl doing the photos encouraged her to do it so she could take a picture of it. I can't wait for them to come in. We got an awesome collage and I had her put this picture on it because it really shows Chloe's personality. It makes me laugh that just a few months ago she couldn't figure out how to do this on command and now she's a pro at it.
She looks like such a little stinker here!

So we took Chloe into Sears tonight to get pictures done for her birthday. They came out pretty well but she never smiles as brightly as she does when we are home taking her picture. I'll put a few of them up though so everyone can see how beautiful she is!

Poor Joel was really tired from lack of sleep and working all day. He's worried he'll have cross eyes, but I don't think it will be that noticeable.

Indiana Beach, what a day!

2008-06-23T21:18:00.004-04:00

Well, we went to Indiana Beach yesterday after church. While at church Chloe did something very unusual.The kids had been called up to the stage to perform a song they had learned which included little dance moves, Chloe gets really antsy sometimes and she wanted to get up so Joel let her and next thing we knew she was crawling on stage with the other kids and stood up there with them trying to do the song. She is usually really shy so we surprised to see her up there in front of all those people but I guess she liked it. I'm just sad I didn't have a camera to get a few pics of her up there.Here are Chloe and Lily on their first ride. I was a little worried about how Chloe would react since she doesn't seem to care much for the little rides at the mall. But she pretty much loved it.
She really loved this one more than it looks. She kept putting her hand down in the water and playing with it when she wasn't ringing the bell.
Here is Chloe beside her cousin Alivia in the back and Lily in the front passenger seat and a friend's daughter in the driver seat. Unfortunately I can't remember her name, names have never been my strong suit.
Here is Chloe on the kiddie version of the double shot. I was very very worried about her reaction on this one. She must have liked it because she ran back over a little later to ride again.
And here we are on the carousel, she really was having fun on this one. We were telling the horse to giddy up and yaw(or however you would spell it).

Much Ado About Chloe

2008-05-26T23:33:00.004-04:00

So we have been looking for a house. It feels like we have looked at a million houses with no luck. If they are big enough, they are poo poo houses and if we like them and they are cute, they are not big enough. We are looking at another one tomorrow and I really hope it's the one because we are running out of options. Chloe is doing well. I attempted to get her to use the potty and after sitting on it for 20 min with nothing, I put a diaper on her and 5 min later she had it filled with numbers 1 and 2. This tells me that she knows what she is doing and she has control over it she just doesn't want to use the potty chair. We'll try again in a month or so. If at once you don't succeed, try try again. She seems to be picking up on words better. This means we really have to watch what we say. She already tells the dogs to shut up, I don't really want to deal with her telling people to shut up too. Brooke has helpfully been teaching her "whatever". That's a fantastic word for a nearly 2 yr old to be saying. She always uses 1 2 3 when she wants to jump or something similar. Anyway, here are a few pics to catch everyone up.

Nothin New

2008-04-04T22:16:00.002-04:00

This is Chloe before bath time. Showing off her awesome bod!!
I couldn't even believe this! She was walking around kissing everyone's feet. Iwas so grossed out by it. I just hope they all had clean socks on.
This is just my cute baby upside down.
So funny, tell me another one!!
I don't know what she was doing, she was being pretty goofy. That's pretty normal for her though.

There isn't a whole lot to update. Not really anything new going on. I did win tickets to a Pacer game for next week so that was pretty exciting. I've never been to anything other than high school games so I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully Joel likes it. We've been trying to ween Chloe off her pacifier. That has not been fun. She is only supposed to have it for naps and bedtime. She's had it for quite a bit tonight but we had to take pity on her because she's sick so we wanted to give her some comfort. Anyway, that's about all.

My Little Cutie Patootie

2008-03-21T17:00:00.002-04:00

She is the cutest baby ever, but I just can't seem to keep her hair out of her face.
My mom bought her some totally adorable pjs. They are just like big girl jammies. She's so cute in them!
We finally let her get outside to play in the snow. It wasn't too muddy or too cold and I had bought her snow pants that she had yet to wear, so we said, "Let's go outside and play."
This is Chloe in her new dress Aunt Sharla sent her from Hawaii. We hope it still fits come summer.
This is Chloe saying cheese for the camera in the other dress Aunt Sharla sent her. She is going to be so well dressed this summer!

She is really growing so fast. We went for a walk the other day, and a leaf blew by on the ground and she ran after it yelling Wait Wait. I laughed so hard. I laughed even more when the leaf started to blow at her and she backed up because there was no way she was going to let that leaf touch her! Then a Comcast van drove by us and she tried to chase after him hollering Wait wait for like 5 min. It must come from me trying to chase her down in the mall yelling "Chloe wait for me!" She's been calling me Katie, but not as much as she was. She does call Ralphie (our dog) but I thinks she thinks all dogs are called Ralphie. She stands at the back door with us calling out "Ralphie" It's really the cutest thing ever. She says please for nearly everything she wants. We're still working on thank you. We are also starting some tentative potty training. She sits on the potty, but prefers to pee on the floor. She is also addicted to SpongeBob. It is the only thing on television that she sits and watches. She says spongebob and tries to sing along with the theme song. She is just an amazing little girl who is growing way too fast for mom and dad's comfort.

When The Cats Away !!!

2008-02-11T00:05:00.000-05:00

This last week I was in Anderson on buisness, while I was away Katie and Chloe evidently got bored, then the camera came out. The last picture is my alltime favorite, while eating picture.
For those of you who haven't spoken to us in a while, we are doing fine and dandy. Chloe is getting so big now and walking everywhere, she has some good habits and bad ones. One good one is she loves to brush her teeth which is the opposite of me.

2008-02-10T23:51:00.000-05:00

Here are some old christmas time pictures, Chloe was much more proactive this year opening her gifts.

Chloe is finding out what she can and can't do, like which pieces of furniture she can get in and out of on her own. Down fall for her is that dad will not let her stand up in the chair so she ends up getting a spanking.
Chloe likes to color, but like most children if not supervised will color on everything but the coloring book..

What is that Chloe up to now?

2008-01-09T01:40:00.000-05:00

Chloe likes to play a game where I put her shoes on and she takes them off and brings them to me, to put them back on again. This is her in the process of taking off her shoes before we went out.
Not only is Chloe so cute and adorable, she's a trendsetter! Don't be surprised to see this new wicker hat walking down the runway!
Chloe in her eskimo winter coat. She hates putting it on, but putting it on means she gets to go somewhere and she's all for that!
Goofy girl!
Awww, Chloe loves giving her mom kisses! Mom just wishes they weren't so wet!

Overdue update!

2008-01-09T01:31:00.000-05:00

This is Chloe trick or treating in Peru with my sister's kids. She looks like she doesn't have a clue what's going on or why I stuck her in that big bulky thing! Poor thing didn't feel well that night, so she just lounged in her stroller while daddy did the hard part of getting her candy!
This is an empty can, but she really looks like she's going to town. She also looks a bit loaded, but I promise she wasn't!
Joel likes to teach Chloe bad things. This isn't really too bad, but she does look goofy. Like father like daughter I guess.
She just woke up, but she looks so cute.
This is Chloe being cheesy, like she usually is!

Chloe Update

2007-10-29T23:20:00.001-04:00

She looks so cute here. I don't know what that look is supposed to mean, but I love it!
Chloe and her Daddy eating pizza!
Just out of her bath, and she looked so cute I couldn't resist taking a few pictures and this was one of them, it makes me laugh!
Chloe likes to play with socks, and apparently she got a hold of my trouser socks and was trying to put them on. Joel thought, why not, and put them on for her. She apparently liked them, she left them on while she was playing. I figured, at least I know her legs are warm.
Here she is walking with her toy with those socks on. I believe that is a sock in the background that she had taken off earlier. My kid is such a goober, but I love it!

Chloe is slowly starting to walk. She walks around great with the walk along toy Uncle Kris and Aunt Megan got her. She turns it around herself and everything. She has taken a few steps without Joel or I holding her hand, but usually by the second or third step she loses her balance and/or confidence. She walks all around the living room while holding on to furniture too, so it won't be long before she is completely mobile. I also found out about a week ago that there are a lot more teeth in her mouth than I realized. She was on the swing and yelling and I could see into her mouth perfectly and couldn't believe what I saw! She has molars coming in! I had no idea, it's hard to see and I can't just stick my finger in her mouth because she bites, go figure! She also is able to tell me she wants to eat. Anytime I sit down with food, there she is saying "I eat." It's not a whole sentence, but I thought it was pretty good. Her favorite word, unfortunately, sounds like the bad word for poop. I don't know if that's what it is, but that's what it sounds like. I don't really think my baby is cussing, but it was pretty embarrassing when I was at Walmart picking up an online order, which was taking quite some time, and she just kept saying it over and over. I'm not a parent that thinks it's funny when kids say bad things, but I'm not even sure what she's really saying so I don't really know how to handle it. I'm sure she'll pick a new favorite word soon and I won't have to worry about it, for a while anyway. I'm trying to teach her 1 2 3. We were watching Dora and they were counting so I was counting along, and she tries to mimic me. She has the inflection down, we just need to work on her pronunciation and of course her comprehension of what she is actually saying. She just surprises me so much by how smart and sneaky she can be, and how much she seems to understand what we say. Anyway, she gets bigger, smarter, and more beautiful everyday. I never thought I could love anyone as much as I love her!

It's been so long!!

2007-10-05T23:46:00.000-04:00

It seems like forever since I've put a new post on. When my husband (king of procrastination) mentions how long it's been I know I need to get something done. Things have been a little crazy around here. I'm taking some online courses and it's a bit time consuming and add to that having a daughter, working, and babysitting, well, I have a lot on my plate. Good news is, I'm doing great with my schooling. I was very afraid and nervous at first because it's been so long since I was in school. I have to be more disciplined with myself since I'm not in a traditional classroom setting, but I think I'm doing very well. Unfortunately, this means I'm on the computer from around 11pm to around 2am and sometimes as late as 3am. I don't think I'm suffering too much from lack of sleep. Onto more important matters, Chloe! She isn't walking yet, but she stands up all by herself and stands there for a few before setting back down and she can walk around holding onto things, so I'm trying to be patient, but let's face it, walking is a pretty big milestone! She is very onry and I'm starting to worry about how she'll be as she gets older, but hopefully we set a good example and she'll turn out okay. She loves to test mom and dad's limits and thinks it's funny to be yelled at. I don't mean us screaming at her, I mean us saying no and trying to correct her. No one ever told me how hard it would be to try to correct her. I'm trying to say no and stop whatever it is she's doing and she looks me straight in the eye, smiles this mischevious little grin and does whatever she isn't supposed to be doing again. How can I not laugh at this? Joel is way better than I am at holding a poker face. I can usually hide my face or turn away before I lose it though. So our little darling is nearly 14 months old and we will be taking her trick or treating at the end of the month. I'm so excited!! I even bought a witch costume to wear, complete with a big, long, ugly nose and green face paint. I hope I don't scare Chloe, but she'll probably think it's funny. Enough chatter though, let's bring on the photos!!

Here is Chloe standing almost by herself. She only had one hand on that toy to support herself! I have noticed that the more she tries to stand and take steps, the more backward falls we have. I won't be surprised if she still has a goose egg on the back of her head when she's 18!

This was so funny! I was trying to get a picture of her, and rather than just turning to face me, it was like she was posing for me. I thought she looked so cute and sweet. I look at this and all I can say is, awwwwwww. However, don't mind the chocolate milk she's wearing down the front of her top!

This night was a gas. I was trying to fold Chloe's clothes. Well, with Chloe, where there's laundry, there's mayhem!! She loves to play with clothes. I had to take a pair of socks out of my drawer to give her so she would leave Joel's dirty ones alone. They are now considered her toys! Anyway, this night we kept tossing bibs at her to try to take her attention away from the clothes. Somehow this ended as a contest to see how many we could toss onto her head before they either fell off, or she shook them off. My poor baby! Joel put one on her backwards so she could have a superbaby cape.

This is Chloe's first ride on daddy's precious mower. He was moving furniture and she was standing at the door hollaring at him, so when he was done he took her for a ride down the road and back. Yes, we live in the country and we do redneck things!

She will hate me for this when she gets older! Maybe not. Anyway, she was so cute after her bath and seemed so willing to give a few pics I snapped this so everyone can see my chunky monkey! That is a term of endearment by the way for those that would worry I'm damaging her self esteem! Look how big that smile is!! I'll try not to wait too long before I put another post up.

Happy Birthday Princess Chloe!!!

2007-08-16T23:39:00.000-04:00

We celebrated Chloe's 1st birthday Sunday. We had a really good turnout which I was very happy about! This is Chloe in her birthday crown that she wouldn't leave on, but we got a quick pic before she tore it off!
It was a little harder than I thought it would be to get her to open her gifts. I thought maybe all the tissue paper in this bag would help entice her and it did, just not for very long. She is standing there behind the bag, she just doesn't have much balance yet.
I guess there is such a thing as too many gifts. We were maybe half way through when she was finished. She just didn't have the patience to sit there while we kept opening gifts. I eventually had to just let her crawl off while I tried to get through the rest of her gifts.
She was very happy to be sitting down to cake. She acted like it anyway. She was so funny, she sat there with her hands in the air for quite some time before she got down to business. I was hoping she would be the biggest mess ever, but she just didn't dig in the way I was hoping. I think if I had gotten her a chocolate cake she would have looked messier!
My youngest sister Marra got Chloe all these balls. Chloe loves these things, though I'm not sure why. She kept hugging as many as she could hold to her body and burying her face in them. It is really hilarious!! Unfortunately these balls seem to pop easy but maybe these will last her awhile seeing as how she has soo many.

In other news, I did have my hernia repair surgery, and as you can tell I lived to tell about it. I told Joel, the thing I hate most about surgery is knowing I'm going to wake up in so much pain. There really isn't much you can do about it though. I hate it because I'm on a 20 lb weight restriction which means I can't pick Chloe up and how do you explain that to your baby!?! I can only hold her when she's asleep otherwise she's squirming and kicking and it hurts quite a bit. They were able to do the surgery laproscopically, which means no huge incissions and easier healing, and I think they used all my old cuts from the gall bladder surgery so there are only a few new ones. I was told that I had the hernia at my belly button that they knew of and I also had a line of little ones following the scar from my C-section so they fixed everything all at once so let's hope I don't end up back there next year! :-) I feel a little bad for Joel because he has to do pretty much everything. Right now, I don't feel very sorry for him because I hurt too bad, but I'm sure in a week when I feel better I'll be trying to find a way to make it up to him. I'm very thankful I have such a loving caring husband who does everything he can to take care of me. I also am thankful that my mother in law loves Chloe soo much she has watched her quite a bit for us this week which makes it easier for Joel. Thank goodness for voluntary lay offs, (only because it meant she was home to help Joel with Chloe)! I hope to have some better pics of Chloe's party on here soon, my sister was able to get more pics so I'll have to get them transferred to my files.

To the Zoo!

2007-07-22T23:32:00.000-04:00

Joel and I both had the weekend off as did my sister which meant no babysitting so we decided to stay the night in Indy and take Chloe to the Indy Zoo. Here we are in front of a little waterfall. I was a bit upset because I had forgotten to take my straightner with me so my hair was not really behaving!
I'm usually not a big fan of reptiles but we went into the desert section and there were so many lizards and stuff right up by the glass which made it easy to get pretty good photos. Here is a little turtle that I thought was cute. There was another one I liked but I could only get a pic of him from behind so I decided to go with this guy!
We saw elephants and this baby was so cute, following his mama around. I have another photo of this mama pushing another bigger elephant from behind because he was blocking the path. I thought it was funny, but this baby elephant is just too cute!
Here we saw some giraffes, obviously. There were people that wouldn't move on down so I couldn't get the shot I really wanted but this one didn't turn out too badly. They said there was a baby giraffe that had just been born this month but I don't think he was out there, that or he got big really fast!
Joel caught a few pics of these bears. I'm surprised at how well the pic turned out because there were so many people in front of this exhibit. The bears were very very popular!! Chloe and I couldn't get that close to see them, but Joel is a bit taller than me so he took the picture. Aren't they so cute!

I think Chloe had a pretty good time, but she fell asleep by the time we went to see the White River Gardens. There were so many butterflies just flying around and I wanted to get a picture but all the neat ones I saw were in the air and I couldn't find one just hanging out on a leaf or flower. I did get a couple shots of some very pretty water lillies. I ran of of photo space to put those up though. I do have to say that a lot of the people at the zoo were pretty rude. People just kept walking in front of us and I kept getting separated from Joel because people didn't want to let me through with the stroller which made it a little frustrating trying to navigate through the different exhibits but it was still a good time. I couldn't believe how crazy busy the ocean one was. I wanted to go through again before we left but there were so many people in line I said forget it. I didn't have the courage to touch the baby sharks the first time we went through and I was hoping to have a chance to do it before we left, but sadly, no. It was really hard trying to get Chloe to actually look at the animals, she was so busy watching all the people around us! Anyway, it was a nice weekend, Joel and I don't get to spend a lot of time alone with just Chloe because we are always babysitting my nephew so this was very special to us. I can't wait until Chloe is a bit older to take her to the zoo again so she knows what's going on and will actually be excited about it!

Chloe goes to the Mall

2007-07-09T23:15:00.000-04:00

I took Chloe to Sears today to get her pictures taken for her 1st birthday and I know it's early but it costs a lot more to get them same day. Anyway, it took 2 trips because she was very tired and cranky during our appointment so the lady said we could come back later so we were back at 6 and while she was in a better mood, she was very unsure of her surroundings so she was really subdued. We got a few good smiles out of her but I don't think she really liked the woman doing the photos so she was difficult. Anyway, I'll put a few up and I'm going to start working on an online album so you can see every little picture I take of her and believe me, I take a lot!!!

What is She Doing?

2007-07-02T23:47:00.000-04:00

Chloe likes to put things in her mouth and continue playing. This is a bale of hay that came with one of Nathayden's farm sets. She had it in there for quite a while.
Grandma bought Nathayden a sand box which he loves to play in all day long. I put Chloe in it with him the first day he had it to see how she would react. She didn't seem to care much about the sand but she loved her cousin's sand toys!
She was talking about something here. Probably yelling at the dog. I've been trying to pay attention to what she says when she sees our dog because I'm almost sure she always says doa when Nakida comes around. But then I say, "Is that the doggie?" and she just looks at me like I interrupted her and to butt out!
Chloe and I get bored so sometimes I like make up silly games for us to play, like me putting her toys on her head. She looks a little goofy here, but I think she's cute when she's goofy. Of course she may have just been hitting the sauce, I'm not really sure!

Chloe in the Summer Time

2007-06-24T23:11:00.000-04:00

We broke out Chloe's pool last week. She didn't seem that impressed which is probably my fault for buying such a small pool but I don't think she needs a big one yet and this is so easy to store.

I love this face! She makes it alot but it took me forever to actually catch it on film.
And I was a mean mom and let her cry for a bit so I could get a picture of her top teeth. I think you can see them rather well along with the other top one trying to break through.

2007-06-24T23:03:00.000-04:00

I'm not really sure why she does this but she likes to play with her feet. She was watching Dora so I couldn't get her attention for anything.
Joel wasn't really asleep for this but he woke as I was trying to take the picture so I made pretend he was still asleep so I could get the shot because I thought it was soo cute!
I don't know what is running down her chin but I wanted to show off her little pony tail.
Here is Daddy acting goofy with Chloe. You can tell by the look on her face she's wondering if this is really the man that fathered her!
And again, Daddy acting goofy with Chloe. She loves it and we do what we can to make her happy. Can you believe those big blue eyes?

Can I check those books out for you?

2007-06-10T00:07:00.000-04:00

We decided to goof around the other morning and put Joel's glasses on Chloe. She took them off before I could get the camera and we couldn't keep them on her after that but this pic is pretty cute!
My mom bought this swing for the kids which is sitting in our house right now until we can get a cover for it. The kids were very happy to try it out after Joel got it together. Chloe loves her cousin Nathayden!
As you can see, Chloe loves swinging! She was laughing and chattering so much while she was on it.
Mom also bought her this headband when they went to the zoo in Fort Wayne. She doesn't really like to leave it on but I got a few shots before she pulled it off.
Chloe is also learning to love the outdoors. We just go out and sit in the front yard and she watches the big kids play as she plays with her toys. She looks so cute in her sun hat. I have one shot where she looks like the Crocodile Hunter. But I used this one so everyone could see the cute dress Joel picked up for her. He is very proud of his selection!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

2007-06-09T23:49:00.000-04:00

I made cupcakes for Joel's birthday because apparently my cake pans are in storage. We decided to let Chloe try one out. She was a little apprehensive at first but she got over it pretty quickly.
It was so funny, she picked the whole thing up and raised it up as she yelled something (we don't know what she says yet) and squeezed the heck out of it. We have it on video and I would love to be able to upload it but we currently lack the correct capabilities. Anyway, she squeezed it to pieces.
This is when the fun started. She would pick pieces up and squeeze them some more and then would look over the side at Nakida (our dog) and then throw it down to her. I didn't think Chloe was old enough to know how to feed the dog!
It took a little coaxing to get her to actually try some of it. I think she enjoyed it but she didn't really get the idea of eating the cake with her hands. That's probably my fault because I don't let her play with her food but I guess we'll all get over it.
She does like to smear her food everywhere. This poor high chair cover is still waiting on me to wash the chocolate bunny and now blue icing off of it. I'll remember one of these days when I am doing her laundry. Anyway, this was how we celebrated Joel's birthday before going to dinner with his parents.

Silly little girl

2007-06-03T00:21:00.000-04:00

We were trying to get Chloe to crawl, but all I got was this silly face. She did manage to scoot herself all the way back to the tv at which point I thought perhaps she would move forward having something to push against, but no.
Chloe and I love to play peek a boo. This time I just threw her blanket on her head. She didn't care though!
Chloe is offically a water baby. She hated her first few baths because I always just took her in the shower with me because it was easier but since she's getting so big baths are a better option. She goes to town playing and splashing.
She likes to smack the side of the tub and see how wet she can get me. I think here she was banging her rings on the edge. Noise is Chloe's best friend! Either way, wet or dry my baby is too cute!

Happy Mother"s Day!!

2007-05-28T01:12:00.000-04:00

I know it's a little late but Had to get these pictures posted...This is the dress that katie's aunt Roxane(sorry if i spelled it wrong, I don't own any Police albums) got her, shes so cute.

2007-04-23T23:17:00.000-04:00

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I give up!!!

2007-04-18T20:44:00.000-04:00

( I say Watson, maybe it was the butcher.)

Some times she eats good for dad, but today she kept acting like she would much rather play with it. So i'm not going to argue with a baby, i said have it. Still have'nt found that spoon full that went flying though..?poor sock.

2007-04-16T23:20:00.000-04:00

This is Chloe with the Easter Bunny at the mall. She almost blends into the bunny but she is soo cute and she did such a good job not crying!
Since my little girl has two teeth we're brushing our teeth. I think that toothpaste must be really good because she gets so mad when I take her toothbrush away. In the mornings when I brush my teeth I take her in there and brush her teeth then let her have the brush while I brush mine and she laughs at me while she watches me brush and it seems like she might be trying to mimic me which is great because I don't want a kid that fights brushing her teeth!
This is Easter at my parents house. Instead of having to run around to everyone's house Sharla's grandparents inlaws and Joel's mom and dad came and had dinner with us which was great because it felt like more of a holiday with so many people to share it with. My mom is helping Chloe drink out her cousins sippy cup. I have bought like 4 cups trying to find one she will drink out of and she wants this one. I didn't buy that one because it has a hard spout and I didn't think she would be able to get the liquid out. Anyway, I totally underestimated her! And she love love loves orange HI-C!
Her are the kids playing with motorized trains. The grandparents are at the other end of the table sending trains back and forth. It was funny because they would sometimes go past Chloe and she was trying so hard to grab them. She finally got one but I traded her a broken one for a good one so the kids could keep playing. At any rate I think Easter was a complete success! Chloe even went to church that morning and aside from some babble she didn't cause too much commotion! She did take a nap during the sermon but I don't think anyone noticed! :-)

Easter Morning

2007-04-16T22:49:00.000-04:00

This was our first easter with chloe and it was a fun one. We woke up early to give chole her easter basket, she seemed excited to see some new toys to play with. Also she said her first word (were not sure if it counts) but when I have been playing with her, she always holds her toys up in the air with one hand, so I started saying Tah dah!. Most times she would mock me by saying ahh dah. Unprovoked this morning she held up her new rubber ducky and said tah dah! and stated laughing( its on video if you don't believe me).

Poor Poor Nakida

2007-04-03T22:29:00.000-04:00

Poor dog, she's beautiful but sooo hairy. So every year as it starts to get warm out and she starts to really shed big time. I feel so bad for her because she looks rather atrocious without hair. Plus, she has quite a bit of cotton like hair under her fur and it's really hard to cut so she looks pretty clumpy. I don't know if you tell by that pile of hair just how hairy she really is.

This is Nathayden asleep. I don't know how kids can sleep in such awkward postions but here it is. I thought he was being too quiet so I came to

check on him and he's sitting in his chair, the chair however is laying on it's back and he is leaning against the seat of it. And I want to make it clear that he is asleep and not just hiding his face from the camera.

Here is Chloe with her TWO teeth! I don't know how well you can see them. I had to zoom in on the camera to be able to see them, but either way, there they are!! And she is crying because I wouldn't get my finger out of her mouth because I wanted a picture of them.

It turns out that Chloe is a big fan of spaghetti! I love that she loves it, however, she also loves knocking the spoon just as I'm about to put it in her mouth which makes her look like daddy fed her instead of mom. She did gobble it all right up, I'm so proud of her. Actually, earlier this week I was feeding her peaches and she knocked the spoon out of my hand and instead of jumping for a towel to clean it up I dropped some more on her tray and let her play in it. It was pretty funny!

This is a sneak preview of Chloe's bunny ears. She looks so adorable and she leaves them in! I took her to the mall to get her pic taken with the Easter Bunny and she wore these and the cutest dress ever. Everyone had to comment on how cute she was!! I loved it! Anyway, Joel and Chloe both have colds and stuffy noses. My poor baby gets so upset because she wants her pacifier and she can't suck on it because her nose is stuffed. Then poor Joel is still left taking care of me because while I'm not sick I am having abdominal pains and there is a chance I have a hernia. This kinda hasn't been my year! Anyway, I'm supposed to have a blood count done and a ct scan on my stomach and pelvic area so I'll know more then. I don't think it's anything serious unless you count the damage to Joel's wallet, and he is!

Kids Do The Cutest Things

2007-03-20T23:18:00.000-04:00

These are just some cute photos we have that I wanted to share because they made me laugh and I thought they might make everyone else smile too.
"No daddy, that tickles!"

I thought this was the cutest thing. It looks like she's trying to get away from her daddy! It made me laugh to see the expression on her face.
Nathayden got a hold of his cousin's cowboy boots and just had to try them on. His favorite activity is to put on someone elses shoes and clomp around the house. Joel and I never know where we will find our shoes next!
"Yeah mom, I think these will work okay. Everything seems to be all natural and safe."

I just want everyone to know that I have the smartest kid ever! 7 months old and she already knows how to read! She likes to play with her teething tablets and she was concentrating so hard on the bottle it looks like she's checking for possible side affects. There are none by the way!

"Stupid pants just won't fit!"

Poor baby has the biggest hams this side of the Mississippi. We tried to put these adorable capris on the other day and they are far too tight around her thighs.

"Boy, all this play has given me the biggest headache!"

I'm not sure what we were doing but the end result is this, my baby with her hand to head. I'm don't know if she's trying to play the baby in distress card or trying to garner some sympathy for a headache.

I'm not ready for summer!

2007-03-14T15:59:00.000-04:00

This heat wave we've gotten is telling me already that I'm not going to like summer. It won't be as bad as last year when I was pregnant, but I'm still not looking forward to it. I am excited about putting Chloe in her new summer outfits!! She looks soo cute in them and it's nice not having to bundle her up to race from the front door to the car and back again. We've taken her out to see all the animals and trees and anything else we can think of to show her. She loves it. We have also gone walking a few times this week. I like to put her sunglasses on her because then everyone has to stop and say something and I love people telling me how cute my baby is! She's napping right now so I don't know how long I will have. Anyway, I need to wrap up before she wakes up. I'll add some summer pics soon!! I almost forgot and I don't know how, her bottom right front tooth has poked it's little head above her gum!!! The one next to it is almost there also. I was soooo excited to see that little bit of pearl. I'm not sure Chloe really cares yet.

Chloe, Chloe, and more Chloe!!

2007-02-14T20:59:00.000-05:00

I let Joel feed Chloe and this is what I got! It's okay, I love to see him try new things with her. I think she had a pretty good time with him too. She's eating some yummy carrots here. I also want to let everyone know I tricked her into eating peas and green beans by mixing them into her sweet potatoes and carrots. I was afraid she would turn orange if I couldn't get some green stuff in her. I had a friend tell me that happened to her daughter.

This is Chloe's third bath since she's been home. I usually just take her into the shower with me. She would always fuss when I would put her in the baby tub and it was such a hassel I tried the shower and she never fussed or cried and she would even play with the water trying to catch the streams. I don't think she is very fond of the tub but I want her to be used to it so when she gets older she can have a fun bath time with the soap crayons and toys and what not. She's a little better than the first time she got a real bath but I can tell she doesn't really like it.

This is Chloe on her very first Valentines Day!! I had a hard time trying to get a picture, she kept closing her eyes on me. Memaw watched her while Joel and I went out to dinner and then had a wonderfully romantic walk through our local Walmart. We held hands for the first time in quite a while since Joel is usually carrying Chloe's carseat! We had a good time and Chloe got to spend some time with her grandma. I also want to say Happy Birthday Nathayden and Marra! They had birthdays on the 8th and 12th. Nathayden is now 2 and Marra is 13. Let me tell you, they both act like their age. Nathayden is a poster child for terrible twos and Marra has totally got the whole sullen teen act down! I love them though and I know they'll grow out of it. I did!

Blizzard Of 2007

2007-02-14T20:31:00.000-05:00

This was not a fun night to deal with. Poor Joel was out nearly every hour shoveling the walk way to try to keep the damage to a minimum. I don't know how much help it was since every time he went out the snow was as high as the last time. I wonder if maybe he had left it, with the help of the wind it would have just stayed the same height? I can't really care too much since it was never me out there shoveling! The snow, for whatever reason, loved my car last night. Joel was trying to keep it clean but everytime we went out there was more snow than before around my car. It was kinda funny since for 2 days I was told not to bother coming into work, I let my car be a snow bunny.
We felt bad for Nakita, she goes out the back door when she needs to do her business. There was easily three feet of snow drifted against the door last night. The first time we let her out she tried to jump the hill of snow but it was just a little too much for her. Joel took pity on her and shoveled a path.
I got a good laugh this morning watching Joel get stuck at the end of the drive. It wouldn't be so funny if he didn't always talk about how he loves the snow and he can't wait to get out and drive in it. Some good samaritans stopped and helped push him out, good for him because I wasn't going out there!

Clean ears are soo overrated!

2007-01-24T17:48:00.000-05:00

This is my nephew Nathayden asleep on the couch, he is also one of Chloe's favorite people. No matter what she's doing, smiling or screaming he can always get a smile out of her. Joel and I thought he looked so cute asleep on the couch like this we had to snap a photo! Below you will see my little princess screaming like a banshee. I promise she is unhurt, just very angry that I had the audacity to clean her neck and ears. I know one day she will thank me for starting good hygiene at such an early age.

In other news, I am officially part time which means lots more time for Chloe! I am now able to feed her fruit and oatmeal before work, let her play in her jumper, and lay her down for a nap all before I have to leave for work. I've also had time to cook more after work. I'm sure Joel loves it. I'm working on being a better Susie Homemaker, but I'm not counting on any tremendous changes. Anyway, Chloe is ready to go.

Hollywood here I come!!!

2007-01-24T17:16:00.000-05:00

This young movie star, will soon be rising to the top, so move over angalina !!!

Our little one also enjoys a little time in front of the television...

Welcome Home !!!

2007-01-10T13:53:00.000-05:00

Due to the unfortunate loss of our grandpa brown this last week, my brother Kris nd his son Isaac have come home..

Katie and I were very excited. We wish it was everybody coming home, but two is better than going another year with out seeing anyone. We spent the first morning over at grandma Brown's house were aunt Janet, Rusty, Kayla, Tony, Bobby, Aunt Berdie, and cousin Stacy were all able to visit with Kris. Then we went to lunch with katie at Happy Burger. I had a fantastic time lunching with my nephew! He's so cute, I think it was a little more than he expected coming home to see us. I think I'll have to keep my eye on Kris to make sure my baby girl stays here, and doesn't end up on a flight to Japan! It's great to see them though.

Christmas Fun and Veggies!

2007-01-07T20:31:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas! It was fantastic having our own child to celebrate with, getting up Christmas morning to open Chloe's gifts. It was not so wonderful Christmas night when I got really sick. We made it home just in time, I was so afraid I would make a mess in the car. I ended up with a 24 hr bug, thankfully Chloe didn't get it or if she did it was like nothing. I've not been sick for years so it was a rough night for me. The next night I was nearly my old self again, I'm sure Chloe was happy, she had to be so bored that day doing nothing but laying in bed with her sick mommy. Speaking of Chloe, she has been in a stationary jumper and I'm pretty sure she loves it. I love watching her in it, it's so cute to watch her jumping around and the way her little feet hop around. Chloe does not like to be on her stomach though, I'm a little worried about how she will learn to crawl when she just yells everytime I put her on her stomach. I'm sure one of these days she'll surprise me and out of the blue roll over and start crawling when I'm not looking. Next time I'm on here I'll try to get some pictures on of her in her new toys. I've been working with Chloe to get her eating, this is her first experience, it didn't go so well, but she's doing very well now. I've started with vegetables because I don't want her only eating sweet things. The only veggie she eats well are sweet potatoes. She does ok with carrots and she'll try with green beans, but I always end up wearing the peas. I've decided to give up on peas. One lost battle is something I can deal with, I will win the veggie war! However, Chloe calls so I must go.

Christmas Day !!

2006-12-25T18:17:00.000-05:00

Sugar, spice and everything nice!!!

2006-12-15T18:38:00.000-05:00

Little late but Thanksgiving day was a new experience. We arrived at mom and dads house around 10 and started to cook. Katie and I decided we would help cook dinner to alow grandparents more time to spend with chloe.

Katie did an excellent job at making pies, count them, 4 pies, and we left it all there when we left. Ha Ha no diet that week.

Superbaby has arrived!

2006-11-18T18:43:00.000-05:00

Chloe is a very fun child and she surprises me everyday by how fun she can be. We have discovered that she loves flying through the air. My mom can't believe she doesn't freak out but she just laughs and laughs! On other notes, my gall bladder surgery went well, I already feel marvelous, but don't tell my workplace! I'm really surprised how well I am feeling. I don't think I am ready to go back to work yet but probably pretty close! I thought it best not to post any pictures of my stab wounds, but I was very tempted! Anyway, I have more pics of Chloe to post. She is pretty much my whole life right now. I also have a pic of my nephews dressed up with Chloe on Halloween. Enjoy!!

It looks as though something scared little Chloe.

left to right, top to bottom
Brooke, Dylan, Nathayden, Jerran, Chloe

Peek a Boo I See You

2006-11-12T21:05:00.000-05:00

Our angelic little princess has learned how to play peek a boo. I don't believe she really knows what she is doing but it is so adorable! She grabs the edge of her blanket and pulls it up over her face and back down again. She puts herself to sleep this way aswell . She is also talking more and more and getting louder with it. She cracks Joel and I up in the morning. She sometimes wakes up before we do and will lay there looking at whatever catches her eye and talks up a storm. She is just so beautiful and smart and I think everyday makes her more so. I thank God for giving me such a precious gift, she has given my life such meaning, I could never have imagined before. I'm thankful He watched over her and protected her through the birth and her recovery. She's perfect in every way and the best gift ever!! Joel is thriving in his role as father. Every day I see him taking on more in the way of Chloe's care and he such a loving doting father. She loves her daddy terribly, you can see it in the way she stares at him even when he isn't looking.

2006-10-17T19:46:00.000-04:00

Gall Bladders and Babies

2006-10-17T19:20:00.000-04:00

Well, as everyone knows I had some gall stones removed, which was a rather simple procedure. Now I'm waiting to get my gall bladder removed which should also be simple but not quite so easy to get over. Other than my stubborn gall bladder, I'm doing really well. Chloe is also doing great, growing like she is supposed to. I swear she gets more beautiful everyday!! I'm not sure where she gets her looks from, because neither Joel or I have ever been that cute!! Anyway, I'm hoping to actually finish a complete week of work. It's been one thing or another since I went back from maternity leave, but I'm pretty sure that's all over and done! I gave Chloe her first shower this week also, I think she really enjoyed it! She gives us wonderful smiles and the way she chatters, I wouldn't be surprised if she started talking soon ( and I am well aware that is wishful thinking but I can dream!). Being a mother is everything I thought it would be and more and I absolutely adore it, even the middle of the night feedings (most of the time). She has become my pride and joy and I don't know what I would do without her, I have to feel sorry for Joel because I know he has to take the backburner quite a bit. I'm sure I will soon feel more balance between being a mother and a wife. In the meantime I know he understands and he dotes on her as much as I do!

Feline Birthing Center ?

2006-10-17T17:54:00.000-04:00

About three weeks ago I was half way to work when i heard a strange noise from the back of my jeep. I looked back and saw the pregnant cat from the house whom decided the best place on a cold night to sleep was inside my jeep, or so i thought. Since she was pregnant I would have felt bad if i just tossed her out, so i drove her back home. When i moved the back seat forward to my surprise i found 6 kittens on the floorboard.

Gall stones SUCK!!!

2006-10-05T17:53:00.000-04:00

For those of you who don't already know, in the last two weeks, katie has developed stones in her gall bladder, a couple sliped past and travled to the bile duct in the major papilla. That is the duct that pulls bile out of the liver and into the intestines. Today we are at the I U medical sports center in Indianapolis, she has undergone surgery (minor) to remove the stones that escaped from the gall blader. The doctor said the surgery was successfull and katie is sleeping the drugs off currently. It is nice to have a computer in her room, wish i could put some pics on here for everyone, maybe later oh yes i have some pictures of the stones.
This next friday she goes to the surgeon to discuss removal of the other gall stones and or the gall bladder completely. We appreciate any and all prayers.

This site needs more pictures!!!!!!

2006-09-22T17:16:00.000-04:00

Since she is our first, grandpa and grandma overmyer got chloe a big sister.

Dads first day "babysitting"

2006-09-22T11:36:00.000-04:00

Friday morrning, my day off and i was excited to spend the day with chloe. I was nervous because katie, was the care givver, since I had to go back to work the second day she came home. So far it's been terrible, we took katie to work this morning then went over to mom and dads house where i cut off part of her thumb when i was trying to cut a long nail. She cryed alot, but she was also very hungry and her stupid milk was frozen. She is now content sitting in her bouncer seat. (its only 11:40 am, and a long dayto go)

Explorations into the Unknown

2006-09-16T23:15:00.000-04:00

This is my first attempt at websites, blogs, anything that is majorly computer related. I finally sat down today and decided that I was going to get this accomplished because I had only been thinking about it for a year or so. I have a new daughter, she is beautiful and this is another way for me to show her off and brag about her. I love being a mom except at night when I'm trying to sleep and she wants to eat and then she doesn't want to go to sleep. I do have to say that Joel is not very good at sharing these night time duties. I hope that changes when I go back to work. I know this is coming along as rather tedious and boring but I'm hoping to have something a little more interesting to enter as time goes on. Later

First Blog

2006-09-16T21:14:00.000-04:00

We hope to have our own connection soon but we plan to update as often as we can. Meanwhile, here are a few pictures to start the blog.