Oh, Summer Days

Chloe has recently been introduced to the swimming pool and she has really enjoyed it! She took her first dip at the Estes' pool, Jon's (Sally's husband) parents. She kept trying to drink the water. I kept her in a normal diaper so she was very bouyant; those things fill up with water. It doesn't come out even when you squeeze it, so Chloe is at least 5 pounds heavier when she comes out of the water.

Our friends, the Welch's, got a floatie at Target that works very well for infants. My sister, Sally, got one for her son (she has play group with the Welch's), so I decided to get one for Chloe. Here are a couple of pictures of Chloe's and, my nephew, Jude's time in the pool. After about 30 minutes, Chloe leaned back and fell asleep in the floatie. Her hat came down over her eyes and she sucked on her pacifier and just dosed off. She had a good hard nap for at least 30 minutes!!! Of course I kept a close eye on her. But it was so adorable!! Oh, how nice that would be!

Wow

Today is our 6 year anniversary. If anyone took part in our special day several years ago, you know the hand Tropical Storm Allison played, and we still cannot express enough gratitude to you for making our wedding day work (especially to both our moms). You would think with a beginning like that, our marriage would have been doomed from the start. Though we've had our hard times when it would've been easier to give up than go on, as every marriage has, we are able to look back on those times and be thankful for the "growing up" we were able to do together.

At this moment, I have to brag on my man. I am so thankful for him. I used to wonder sometimes what God had in mind when He put us together :), but I know now that Matt is my perfect match. He has shown me love and how to love; how to treat the one you love; how to serve the one you love; how to be willing to grow and change to better "fit" the one you love. He has continually shown me patience, even when I am in a mood. He has always given me his 100% support. He hurts with me when I hurt. He leads our home and provides for all of our needs and many of our wants.

One of the main reasons I know that we have "melded" as one is that he hurts deeply when I hurt him. And I hurt deeply when he hurts me. I suppose this happened a few years ago, but this past year has been different. At first, if Matt hurt me in some way, I'd try to counter attack (or vice versa) so that if one of us was going to get hurt, then both of us was going to get hurt. This year, we've reached that point when, instead of putting up our guard during the attack to protect ourselves, we tend to let it down. We have allowed ourselves to be vulnerable with each other, to see each other at our weakest or grossest points and still be 100% sure that the other will accept us as we are(he still loves me after seeing me give birth... and all the aftermath!!). We are also confident that we do not intentionally seek to hurt each other. Maybe some of this comes with maturity of age, but I do believe that Matt has been my iron and we have sharpened each other in ways that no one else has been able to do.

Since we don't qualify for the young marrieds class anymore at church, I say we are entitled to some sort of bragging rights to have made it to year 7 (that is closer to 10 years now than 1 year ;). We are at the point now that people say "Wow!" when we say how long we've been married. Yet, we still have the fire that we had at the beginning and it is definitely true that it only grows stronger. I love Matt at least 100 times more than the day we married if not more (as if love can be measured). We are still completely "in-love" as well. We would rather spend time with each other than with anyone else. We'd rather just be in the same room than be alone. And we read each others' thoughts (I know exactly when Matt's thinking about ice cream...'cause I usually am too! ;).

Now, we look forward to the growing up we hope to do for the rest of our lives together. We have a new dynamic in our relationship with the addition of Chloe, so we are excited that we get to learn to love each other as mommy and daddy, rather than just husband and wife.

Thank You, Lord, for the gift you've given me in Matt.

Lots of Laughs

I finally figured out how to get this video from my phone onto our blog. It's poor picture quality but Chloe's laughing makes up for it. This video is from when we were camping with our friends, Brad & Lauren, in April. Somehow, Brad really got Chloe going. It was a delight to hear her so happy!

Up North

This is a shout out to all of our relatives Up North. Chloe is finally able to wear the onsie you sent to us when she was born! Here are a few pictures of her modeling her outfit! Thanks for sending it!

Our baby is sick

Well, we knew it would happen one day. Chloe has a little cold. :( She is coughing and sneezing with watery eyes. The cough started 2 days ago. I was getting a sore throat, so I started taking my Zinc and Vitamin C. Her symptoms were better today; hopefully, the vitamins are getting into her system too through my milk. It's so funny though; last night, I was still so worried. She doesn't even have a fever, yet my mind was turning it into some big, horrible illness that could cause me to lose her. Every single day I thank God for my precious girl. I can't imagine life without her!!

The above picture is Chloe and Molly. Molly is our neighbor's dog and we are dog sitting her for a bit. She loves Chloe and Chloe loves her.

Fun visit with sweet memories

I am so glad Kaye got this on her camera! It's so fun to hear my little girl laugh so hard. I guess she thinks her Uncle Scott looks funny! (Ha! Just kiddin', Scott! ;)

What a goofy girl!

So with Chloe's new tooth she's always sticking something in her mouth. When she's eating, she's trying to stick the bib in her mouth between bites. When she's looking at her daddy, she's trying to stick his nose in her mouth. She constantly has a few fingers in her mouth, if not her whole hand. Today, she started rubbing the tooth with her tongue producing a very funny smile which I thankfully got a picture of. Chloe seems to have a very long tongue...

Visit with the Birds!

Here are a few pictures of our surprise visit to see Aunt Kaye and Grace. We kicked Uncle Scott out of the house for the weekend, so he went and spent it with the guys. Grammie got to spend the whole weekend inundated with grandbabies! We had a wonderful time! We missed you being there, Amy, but we were so glad we got to talk to you!

Another Milestone

Our baby girl's first tooth broke through today!!! Even though she is probably so uncomfortable, we are soooooo excited! Just two days ago, I could only feel a little lump in her lower gums, and now, there is a sharp edge of a tooth. Our little one is growing up!

Chloe's First Camping Trip

We went camping this past weekend with our friends Brad & Lauren.

We were trying to get it in before it gets too hot in May. Little did we expect tempuratures in the low 40's, rain storms, and a lot of wind!! We nearly drowned on Friday night. And Saturday, we were all so cold, we had to make a trip to Wal-Mart to get some warm clothes! But we still had tons of fun. Chloe did pretty well considering she hates cold temps and wind. I just layered her as much as I could.

We hiked near the lake, but didn't have the guts to get in! So we mainly hung out by the awesome camp fire that Matt built, trying to stay warm. Chloe seemed to enjoy the warmth, but she hated the smoke. For some reason, Matt was only one who didn't tear-up when the smoke blew in his face. Then, we realized it's because of his contacts! No wonder he kept saying over and over, "I love camp fires."

Thanks to Brad's & Lauren's patience with our little girl, her first camping trip was a success! We don't know how soon we'll venture out again but I hope it won't be too long. Maybe we'll even have the guts to take our dogs next time!! Ha, ha... yeah, right!

4 months and still growing strong

Our precious girl is 4 months old today!! I was thinking back to where I was exactly one year ago... I was going to see the OB/GYN in two days to follow up for a previous problem. That day, I found out I had another issue that would make it very difficult for me to carry a baby. The likelihood of a miscarriage was 80-90%. Two days after that, I found out I was pregnant! Little did I know WHO was growing inside of me, safe in our Father's care, being molded and shaped and formed into a beautiful little girl.

"For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted my petition which I asked of Him. So I also have dedicated [her] to the Lord, as long as [she] lives, [she] is dedicated to the Lord." 1 Samuel 1:27,28

Gettin' Ready for Summer

Chloe's First Easter

I had an adorable dress for Chloe to wear for Easter, but we had the weather we should have had at Christmas. It was soooo chilly!! So we opted for pants instead!

My cute little spring chick in her cozy nightclothes!

Click on the picture below to view all of her pictures.

Chloe's First Easter

Since Daddy added some pictures, Mommy will too...

My little drooling angel.

This picture is set as our desktop on the computer.

Mommy and Chloe

Chloe rolls over!!!

See our little Chloe go!!! We caught it on video as Chloe rolled over for the (second) first time! :) The first doesn't officially count since we both missed it. ;) Click on the picture to view the video.

Chloe Rolls Over

Daddy Time with the Chlo-sters

These are some fresh pictures to share. Enjoy!

Milestones

Yeah!!! Chloe rolled over today for the first time!!! I laid her on her stomach for a bit of tummy time. I walked away for not even 30 seconds, and when I got back she was on her back!! She didn't make a peep; it didn't scare her. She was just happy she could see her toys again! She has yet to show Matt and I this awesome feat, but hopefully, she'll be a rolly-polly soon!

When I was little, I never let anyone see me accomplish anything until I knew I could do it. Therefore, I learned to ride my bike all by myself in the closed garage during the heat of the summer. And I first jumped off the diving board by myself at my cousins' house once everyone had gone inside for lunch; etc... So maybe Chloe is like me a bit and she wants to perfect her rolls before showing her parents. ; ) I hope to have a picture for you soon.

Our little trip up north

Michigan trip Feb 2007

Click on picture to view photo album.

Pictures from visit to Grammie & Pop's house

Week at Grammie & Pop's Feb 2007

Click picture to view photo album.

Family Picture Time!

We made it through Christmas and into the New Year! It was so much fun having two of my sisters here with their husbands and babies. We were able to celebrate a late Christmas with them at my parents' house. Chloe, of course, got tons of cute girl clothes!

Here are some pictures of the last few weeks with our little Chlo-sters!

Chloe in the NICU under the lights for her jaundice.
This was so difficult to see. I can't imagine how it'd would have been if she were really sick. We thank the Lord we were only there for 24 hours.
(The goggles were to protect her eyes from the lights.)

Our first official doctor's appointment.

We call this picture "What's up, Dawg?"
None of her hats fit so she tends to get lost in them. :)