Chloe's Dedication

Chloe was dedicated this past Sunday. Brad's parents drove out from Billings, and Grandpa Bob was the one that actually got to pray over her! So fun for her to be able to say she was dedicated to the Lord by her own Grandpa. Definitely noteworthy of a page in her scrapbook for sure! ;)

*Random side note: I desperately need to invest in a full length mirror! Once I looked at these pictures I was embarrassed to find I wore a mini-skirt in front of the whole church! I couldn't find any black slacks that would fit my post-pregnant body, so I rummaged through the garage and found a knee-length black skirt in my summer bin. Only to find that it's not so knee-length, when you have to hike it up to the smallest part of your waist to even button the darn thing! Yikes.

My aunt Jo came up for the service too...it was fun having family on both sides celebrating together.

Josiah, the wiggle worm.
Love it when they sleep through a dedication instead of cry through one! We've had those too...

Grandpa Bob praying over Chloe

Brian and Susan (Brad's brother and his wife), also came up from Bellingham for the dedication.

My aunt Jo, Grandma, and Rob with Chloe after the dedication at our house.

Ready or not, here I GROW!

Okay, Okay, I know the title of this blog is really cheesy, but that's almost what it feels like. Whether I'm ready for it or not, our little Chloe is growing, and she's growing fast. No, she's not a super chubby baby, but it seems like her face changes over night some times. I found this picture of her with Brad when she was a few weeks old, and she looks so tiny! Hard to believe she's only two months old, and has already changed so much! Here's some pics of her over the last few months.

Sportin' her valentines outfit that Jeremy and Leanne gave her. The onesie on the inside says, "Love Me"... how can you not, I ask? =0)

Ready for church

Everytime I see this picture I laugh. She wore this outfit on a Wednesday night to youth group and one of our very blunt youth staff guys said, "What's on her head? I don't like it." I was so shocked, I burst out laughing. The more I looked at it, the more I thought, "Y'know, it kinda does look like some kind of furry spider is sitting on the side of her head."

Daddy with his girls...getting bigger!

Curled up and cozy in polka dots...

I love these pics of her right out of the bath. The sun was streaming in through the window, and she looked so fresh and sweet, I ran to grab the camera

Sweet little baby

Two Months Old.

Well in the time that I've taken to write a few paragraphs, I've broken up a few fights, cleaned up a potty accident, rescued a dart from a high window sill, picked up an entire box of baby wipes that somebody dumped all over the floor, sent some boys outside to run some energy off and then brought them back in after I had to tell them not to throw shovels full of dirt on each other, and two minutes later tell them not to pour watering cans of water on each other... There are times I get frustrated when I feel like I'm pulled in so many different directions, and I can't do something as simple as sit down at the computer for a few minutes. But as soon as that thought enters my head I remind myself that it's "Life". Whether it's cleaning up messes, disciplining children, or watching my sweet little baby girl grow over night, this is my life, and I want to enjoy it. Just as I'm amazed at how quickly Chloe is growing, I'm sure there will be a day when I look back at these diaper filled, tired, messy days and wonder where the time went. So for now, I will enjoy my messy house, my endless list of things to do, and my beautiful children that God has given me. What a gift, this thing we call, "life".

Pics

When Chloe was about a week old we took some family pics at Penney's. I was happy to find out that I'm not the only one that has a hard time getting good pics of the kids! In every single picture one of the kids has a goofy look on their face. My favorite saying lately has been, "Oh well, it's just a season of life". So, I guess I'll remember that when I'm trying to get good pics of the kids too! =0)

I don't know if any of you remember my blog about Reagan's first day of Kindergarten (the whole underwear issue). A few months ago, I noticed a little bare bottom peeking out from her jeans, and nonchalantly asked her where her underwear was. "Oh, I forgot them", she giggled. Well, let's not forget them any more okay? A few days later I noticed the same scenario, so this time we sat down and had a heart to heart. We finally got down to the root of the problem (or so we thought), and in not so many words she informed us that that they don't stay in the right spot, and she doesn't like wearing them. We splurged and bought her super cute underwear that fit her little bum perfectly at Old Navy (they weren't even on sale...can you tell Daddy was the one shopping with her?), and thought the issue was resolved. Nope. When we got to the portrait studio the photographer asked Reagan to lay down on her tummy with her legs kicked up behind her...I noticed a lovely shade of red creeping up Reagan's neck and she quickly ran over and whispered in my ear, "I don't have any underwear on." Are you kidding me?!? There was no excuse, I had laid out her entire outfit including her perfectly fitting underwear, and she still "forgot" to put them on. There was no use getting mad at her because not only would that have increased the embarrassment, but it in no way would have improved the situation by magically making underwear appear either. So, we just went with the flow and strategically had her legs crossed and folded under her in most of the pictures.

Notice there are NO cute legs kicked up behind the kids... =0)

The Girls

The oldest and the youngest...

Oddly enough the two youngest did the best with pictures! Chloe slept the entire time, and Madelyn was full of big happy smiles. Josiah and Reagan...I'm not sure what their deal was that day. They would smile, but just weird goofy smiles... Oh well.
I have officially taken after my mother. I remember for my wedding, my mom was so busy helping everybody else that she didn't have time to iron her dress, or get ready herself. And that is exactly what happened on this day. I was so busy scrambling to get everybody else ready, I didn't even get a shower! I quick wrapped my hair up in a pony tail and slapped make-up on in the car... not the most flattering of pictures! Oh well!

Photo Shoot at Home

My camera broke during Christmas, so we bought a really nice one on Craigs List right before Chloe was born. My justification was that I wanted to do some pics by myself, and hopefully save us a bunch of money. Oh man, is it a ton of work!!! One of the major pitfalls is that I don't have photoshop or any of the other programs to edit the pictures. The only thing I can do is make them black or white. Thankfully a friend of mine saw a few of them and offered to fix them. Here's an "up close and personal" pic of Chloe...

I just used an old magic cape of Reagan's for these pictures, but unfortunately it had tons of little white fuzzies on it that you could totally see... I don't know how, but she got rid of them, and it made a world of difference.

In the original picture, Chloe's arm was dangling down on the other side

Six days old

These are just the regular ones from my camera without any touch-ups. Still pretty cute though.

Cute little piggies

The greatest thing about taking them when they're newborns, is they sleep through almost anything!

I really wanted a cute one of Chloe on this box, but it just didn't happen. The box was a bit small, and Chloe is pretty long, so she kept sliding off (of course, Brad was nearby to catch her before she fell), but I never did get a cute one of her. This pop-eye look was the closest I got.

I was looking up ideas online and found a really cute picture of a baby curled up in a ball on the seat of a really tall thin chair. It was adorable. The only problem was I didn't have a tall thin chair, but I had a short, fat chair... and it turned out just as cute! =0)

Double the cuteness!

Sleepy Girl

Welcome Home Chloe!

Brad was talking about how nice the rooms were to one of the nurses, and he jokingly said, "Yeah, all you guys need now is a recliner for the dad's!" Well, it wasn't too much longer when they wheeled in a recliner just for Brad!!!

Coulee City will always have a special place in our hearts. Not only was it the first place that Brad and I lived as husband and wife, but the people are amazing! Every single time we've had a baby, at least one person from Coulee City has come to the hospital to visit us. Here is a pic of Jeannie Isaak hanging out with us in the hospital. Love her!

Daddy and Chloe resting up for the ride home...

I loved Evergreen. When the doctor came that morning to check on us, she asked me how I was feeling. I told her that I was feeling awesome, and way better than I've ever felt with any of the other kids. She said, "Great! As soon as you're ready to leave, feel free!" When I asked if I needed to stay 24 hours she said, "Nope. When you're ready to go, just let one of the nurses know up front." Sweet. We were out of there shortly after! =0)

We walked into the house and Auntie Em and the kids made "Welcome Home" signs for Chloe... so sweet!
My friend Kelly made this hat for Chloe... I love it!
Reagan is so excited about another little baby! And she's not the only one! Josiah said the other day that I should have a HUNDRED BILLION more kids! Poor guy, he will be sorely disappointed. =0)

I was worried Maddy would be really jealous. A few months before we had Chloe I was holding another little baby in my lap, and she ran for me crying, "My mommy! My mommy!" And tried to shove the baby off my lap! Amazingly enough there has been absolutely NO jealousy whatsoever. She adores Chloe, and hopefully it will stay that way!

Sweet Sisters