Life... For now

We're HEEERRRREEE! In Washington!! We live here now, finally. After 4 long years in the wintery depths of Idaho, we are finally out! I think it's pretty obvious that I didn't like it there. I had a hard time making friends, in the married student wards, and everything just seemed so clicque-y (I don't know how to spell it). Maybe I was trying with the wrong crowd. I feel like there were only a few good things to come out of living there. 1) The birth of Chloe :) of course 2) Blake accomplishing that no one of both of our families had accomplished before, and that was to get his bachelors degree. I'm so proud of him, and I know he's going to go on to do great things.

I love being home to use my mother and mother in-law's cameras. They happen to have the good ones. Haha. So we got some pretty good pictures over Christmas, which this computer isn't letting my upload right now. Ugh, bummer. Soon though, soon. Or, all of my friends on here I'm friends with on facebook, so I'm pretty sure you'll get to see them there. My facebook page has probably changed into Chloe's facebook page. Haha.

Blake is now looking for a job preferrably in the health science field, but will really take anything at this point. And he heads to Spokane on the 23rd to take the MCAT the morning of the 24th. He's pretty stressed with everything going on at this point in life, but I know that soon it'll slow down.

My parents  house isn't finished to move into yet, so we are patiently waiting. Meanwhile we are living with Blake's parents, for which we are grateful to not be in their mobile home. So far as there are some down points (like being the most poor we have ever been) and Blake having a rough time finding a job, everything seems to be working out, so you just gotta have the faith right?

Chloe has been sick again, either a virus or teething, we aren't quite sure. She hasn't really slept the last 2 nights, and her fever even got up to 103.7, for which we went to urgent care. They then swabbed her for the flu which came back negative. Good! She had the flu shot before we came home. But she's been so sensitive about her mouth that we figure it must be teething, but I guess a temp of 103 doesn't make sense for teething. Maybe I'm wrong. And other than that, my life is pretty mellow. I hang out all day with Chloe, Blake studies and searches for a job. And everyone around us is working, and doing their own thing.

I should be packing...

She's grown a ton in the last 2 months huh!? I swear she's gone through a growth spurt in just the last week or so, in length. Some new updates about my [not so little] little girl. 1) She loves her cheerios. She's always loved her food, but these things are seriously the best. it's nice to put her in her chair every once in a while and let her occupy herself with the little donuts. On a different but same note, it's also been really fun to feed her off of my own plate, because she has 2 teeth now!! She loves almost everything. She's only really given a funny face to pickles. I think that maybe they were a little too acidic. But she kept trying to eat them. 2) She is on the verge of walking. I swear any day now. She's still not confident enough to stand on her own. She will though, she gets something in her hand and then realizes she's not holding on to anything and immediately reaches for the chair or couch to be safe. But if she's holding on to one hand she'll walk, slowly. But that's how it all starts. 3) She loves to clap, and wave. 

Last week I took it upon myself to knit her a hoodie! {More time wasted when I should have been packing) Well I guess it wasn't wasted, because she's got a really cute hoodie that came out of it. It's a bit big, but I can roll up the sleeves and it's so big she can probably wear it next fall too.

  

You can't really see but the hood has pink and white stripes on it. I'm quite proud. :)

Only 2 more months and my baby will be a whole year old. Where is the time going?!

What is enough these days?

Chloe's been sick the last 3 days. She's had a fever of 101+. Scary, right?! The second I first saw 102 the first time, it took everything in me to not panic. To keep calm and just call the on-call nurse for our pediatricians office. Oh, and except that he didn't answer the phone... all night... So I called Sunday morning and finally got a hold of him. He said, pump fluids and keep up with Tylenol or Mortin to keep the fever down till I could get to the office on Monday. Blake gave her a blessing last night, and that was such a great comfort for the both of us. My main concern was that the fever would get really high during the night, but after the blessing (I didn't even listen, I was trying not to laugh the whole time because Chloe farted) I felt much better. This morning, and she felt fine, not hot at all! 2 o'clock and she's warm again so I called and took her into the doctors, turns out it's probably just a virus. So fevers usually last about 2-4 days, and that means it should break tomorrow, and Chloe will start feeling better. I NEED for her to feel better.

So now for a different topic, but it will all tie together in the end. General Conference was last month, and I have the hardest time listening to General Conference, I'll admit, it's hard. But this one in particular hit me real  hard. There were 2 talks that were meant for Blake and I. Sadly enough I can't find my notes right now, so all I can remember is L. Tom Perry talked about scripture study. And I don't remember what the other talk was exactly about but I remember the apostle said, that when raising our children, just going to our regular church meetings and mutuals aren't enough anymore. Even when I was a teenager it was hardly enough, I think. So if just attending our regular meetings aren't enough anymore, this means regular family home evenings and family and personal scripture study are a MUST. 

Blake has been trying to get me to read the scriptures with him since we got married. But my excuses were (in the morning before he goes to school) "it's too early, like I can try to concentrate" and (in the evening before bed) "I'm too tired". I'm so lame. I've never ever been good about reading my scriptures. Too many times have I tried and failed miserably about even trying to read the Book of Mormon all the way though. I always make it to about 1 Nephi 8. Ok, don't make fun. I swear I have ADD. There was one time when I was in middle school, that my parents would sit us kids down at night and we'd read the Book of Mormon together, and again let me be the first to say, I'm a terrible listener. But that is the 1 and only time I've made it through the whole Book of Mormon. (How BAD right?! Feeling guilty right about now)

Having Chloe has literally been life-changing. My taste in clothes and overall style (in home) and how I conduct myself is different. I am trying to make attitude changes because I was always pretty negative and mean. It's been hard, and I mean really hard. I have never been one to think before I speak and that's been the hardest thing to change. More than anything I want for Chloe to be a positive person, so I need to be that example for her more than anyone. Blake and I get up every morning around 7 and read a chapter of the Book of Mormon together, and since the last General Conference, I've seriously tried my hardest to read to Chloe every night when she has her bedtime bottle. We started in Matthew, I don't know why but I've always been drawn to that book. (I'd like to name my boy Matthew but the idea of everyone shortening his name to Matt drives me absolutely crazy). We are about to chapter 20 and with every night, it's getting easier and easier to just pause my show on netflix and take the 10 minutes to read to her. I've discovered I'm "killing 3 birds with 1 stone". 1) Reading to her, which will eventually create an interest and love for reading herself. 2) I'm teaching her the importance of studying the scriptures and 3) I'm getting my personal study in while she's still too young to read on her own. I'm so glad we've started this trend. We are starting off the day with a good note AND ending it with a good note. When we read the scriptures, I have more patience throughout the day and am noticing my testimony of them grow. I actually wanted to read another chapter in Matthew after I put Chloe down, and I've never felt like that. Also, while she's been sick, trusting in the Lord has been easier. So to the title of this post, What is enough these days? Will just simply going to church meetings and reading the scriptures be enough for when she's a teenager and raising hell? (Because Karma sucks and she'll probably be like me). No, it's probably not enough, but it's a small step in the right direction, and it can only help. I wish we could be better about family home evening, but since Blake is working every Monday night right now, it's been put on the back burner... Till then, I'll just keep reading to Chloe.

PS - CHLOE FINALLY HAS A TOOTH!! Just had to throw that in there :)

8 Months!

I may say this a lot but time is seriously flying! I cannot believe my baby is 8 months old! Even more so that it's already October! We will start with the Chloe update first though:

Chloe is army crawling! She hasn't really changed from the scooting on her tummy yet. I think she's become content with the fact that she can even move. She's getting more able to pull herself up onto furniture faster and faster, and even less enjoyable, started throwing temper tantrums. Oy! Changing her diaper is a nightmare because she arches her back and tries to get away. Now, you can only imagine if she was sitting up and playing with my phone when I get a text message and have to take it from her to reply. She throws her head back so far she slams to the ground, screaming and yet again arching her back. Somehow, I still feel like she is too young to just put in a corner and let her figure out that those are unacceptable. So I just refuse to give her my phone back. Any suggestions readers? 

Still no sight of teeth unfortunately, but everyone keeps saying that the longer it takes for them to come in, the better off they'll be. So you can imagine that every time she's fussy or upset I'm blaming it on teething, when I don't even know if they'll be coming in soon. However we have had the 3 close calls with ear infections. Thankfully I know when it's time to take her to the doctor just before the "redness" (as the doctors keeps saying) in her ears become full blown ear infections. This is becoming frustrating though because they keep putting her on different antibiotics. So amoxocillin, and omnicef haven't worked, and the one she was on recently has worked... so far. It's only been about a week or 2 so we will see. 

Chloe's personality is definitely starting to show. She dances to songs and loves to be outside. I'm sure we will be discovering a ton more about her though in the upcoming months.

It's October! I seriously can't believe it. No seriously, I'm having a really hard time getting into the holiday spirit this year because some much is happening! My parents came to Rexburg to drop my brother off for school, and took a few things back home so when we move the load will be ever so lighter. That meant I had them take the holiday tote. Since most of the stuff I had was for Christmas I felt like it needed to go. That's ok, Chloe wont remember it right? And next year when we are home everything will be so much more epic. I'm just a little sad that all of her firsts are gonna suck. (Not her first birthday though! I have something so much fun planned... or at least the general idea is awesome.) 

We seriously just cannot wait to be home already. Blake is sick of Dairy Queen, and I'm ready for a winter not here in Idaho. I want Chloe to be near her grandparents, so they can be there with us to enjoy her already spunky personality. Blake is sure she is going to be a little social butterfly.

6 Months!

So, I don't do very much other than take care of Chloe, I have no excuse for being terrible at this blogging. But about a week ago as I was thinking about how bad I am at it, I came to the conclusion that as long as I'm updating it every other month I should be good. Right?

I can't believe my baby is a half of a year old. These 6 months have flown by so quick! And I know that the next 6 are going to go by even faster with even bigger milestones to work towards like crawling and walking. Not to mention all of her teeth! Teething has been really hard. I'm pretty sure she's getting 4 teeth at the same time on the bottom. The 2 center ones and her K9's. Everytime we feel (because, let's face it, her tongue hides her gums when we try to look. She's just as interested about the swollen lumps in her gums as we are) the most swollen part of the gums are where her K9's are coming in. I'm so confused by this. Good thing we go to the doctor this Thursday.

Chloe has a favorite show. It's "The Cat in the Hat, Know's a lot about That". Ok, the song is actually really catchy, and I don't mind watching it with her. The other shows I could live with out. But funny story; Chloe woke up incredibly early one morning. And she's usually up for about 2 hours before going down for another nap. So 2 hours landed nap time at 8:30 when the Cat in the Hat comes on. I put her in her crib and she starts to freak out. Blake walks in her room and says out loud, "She knows the Cat in the Hat is on". and She goes, "BYAAA". It seriously sounds like, "Ya". Like she would know that the Cat in the Hat is on. Funny for us, maybe not so much for you guys. It's incredible the amusement you receive from your own children. I remember thinking people going on and on about their kids, before I had my own, and thinking, "Why is that so funny?" Now I know better.

Chloe loves food, and still gets frustrated every time the bottle is emptied. I've discovered if I say, "It's all gone FOR NOW", she doesn't freak quite as bad. She's eating all of her vegetables, meats, and fruits! But not quite a fan of water... So to keep her hydrated I have been giving her Pedialyte (baby gatorade). That's another thing I will be talking to the doctor about. Because I think I remember someone saying about not giving them too much juice? I don't remember.

We are sooooo close to getting out of Rexburg as well! As I'm sure I mention in every post, Blake's almost done with school!! He will be receiving his Bachelors Degree in Health Science THIS December! And then we are on the road back to Richland, Washington for about a year and half before Medical School takes us elsewhere for 4-6 years. We are so grateful for my parents letting us live with them so that we can recover from Rexburg and get back on our feet for Med school.

As for me, I'm just hanging out with Chloe most days. I've been trying to keep in shape with the Insanity Program. My legs are definately smaller! And my pant size is smaller. I am having a hard time keeping motivation to finish it. Excuses, excuses right? Eh, I'm bored. I wish my attention span was longer than a goldfish's. So I try and try and try. But I can't get past the first week of month 2. What keeps you guys motivated? I've got nothing right now. Haha.

Well, life is moving and so are we (in December!!!)

4 Months Old!

Whoa! So it's been a while! Been busy I guess! So where I don't have everything memorized I'll just combine it all into one big post.

Chloe is getting so big! Double her size from birth in fact. She's Laughing and smiling, and rolling over. She just turned 4 months old yesterday. Which meant a doctors visit and shots. I hate it seeing the nurses give her shots. I start crying as soon as I see the needles, because I know what's coming next. And where Chloe isn't a huge fan of the binkie, it's hard to soothe her!  So while its been a moody couple of days, she's pretty happy when your attention is given to her. We started her on cereal yesterday, and I'm not sure what she thinks of it lol. Her face looks so disgusted with the spoon. She'd rather have it in a bottle, but what baby new to the spoon likes it?

Blake's taking a huge course load this semester, so we can get out of here in December. He's applied for graduation and we are just waiting for him to finish! We are so excited to be getting back home and away from Rexburg. Based on when Blake will be graduating and still needed a couple of courses for Medical school pre-requests, we are going to be behind a year in getting into medical school. So he's looking to be Medical School Class of 2018!  Or at least that's after the initial 4 years of medical school. Here we go!

I had the opportunity of working for an amazing salon for the last couple of months. But where it was a struggle to be away from Chloe, and since we are moving away so soon, it was by mutual agreement between me and the owner that I leave. It makes me sad that I had to go, but I know it's for the best. And I know that the Lord has his plan for my family and I. So in my free time, I'll be cleaning and taking care of Chloe. I'm going to pick up a hobby like digital scrap booking on the computer, and I'm excited for it.

Upcoming adventures include, Blake's brother Andrew and his wife Danielle coming down at the end of June to meet Chloe, 4th of July weekend trip to SLC for a family reunion. And after that it's all up in the air, but moving home just before Christmas is an absolute definite!

1 Month old

Ok, So Chloe is really 6 weeks old now but I'm thinking at least a monthly update with her doings and her monthly picture on here will be awesome! So as for milestones... I don't know what ones count and what ones don't because quite honestly, they're all milestones when its you're kid. So a few notes:
-Chloe does wonderfully on her own (When she's not fussy) at 6 weeks we are just getting over the fussy weeks (says the pediatrician). And Blake and I are really noticing. She's easy to put in the swing and leave her be for 15-20 min. Same goes for her bouncer. She's so content with studying her surroundings!
-On the note of studying everything around her. We're noticing she loves to see new peoples faces. She'll just stare. It's actually quite funny. She's so incredibly alert.
-She's got smiling down! Last night at 4:30, she needed to be changed and to eat. So I get her out of her crib and put her on the changing table. As I start talking to her about changing her diaper and how she's not going to like the cold wipe, she smiles. Haha, it was the biggest smile I'd seen yet.
-Chloe is picking up on her schedule. Come 7 o'clock, She's dozing. And for sure, within the hour she's sleeping.
-She gets the hiccups at least 2 times a day. The nurse at the doctors office says it's totally normal. But is it totally normal that these hiccups are violent like Blake's? Who knows, I just hope that they don't hurt her when she's grown up like they hurt Blake.
-Sleepy Laughs aren't all too common, but when she does laugh while she's sleeping, it's a good one! Still only a couple of giggles while she's awake.

I think that's all I've got for the 1st month... But now that I'm done being the mother that talks her baby way up, I'll update you on us parents.

Blake is still at Dairy Queen. He was promoted manager the week that I quit, and although he hates the job, the pay is good. There is talk of him changing our course for life, as he's decided that Medical school is not for him. He's come across so many personal revelations to ignore now, and is considering Nursing or Epidemiology (disease control).

I just got a job here in Rexburg at Tami's Salon. I am so stoked people! Finally leaving my days at Dairy Queen behind permanently and I assure you that I will NEVER look back. I am sad that I will be leaving Chloe at home, but I know that she will be safe with her dad, as we have been fortunate enough to work out our schedules so that we may never need a babysitter. However, Lacey will be in town, and if the time comes that she does want to babysit, I'm sure we can come up with something so that she is able to.

Life is so good right now! The only thing that would make it better would be that we were closer to home. 8-10 hours away just isn't close enough.