I Wanna Meet Santa Claus

Because he knows that someday when we are old and gray I will still be saying "remember Chloe's first Easter and how you made us miss out on a picture with the Easter Bunny," Paul was sure to work in a quick trip to see Santa for Chloe's first Christmas outside of my belly.  We didn't have to wait in a very long line since we went on a Monday night.  There were a lot of tears shed by little boys and girls before and after Chloe in the line.  Paul and I were guessing that Chloe would just sit there with her "blue steel" look and not crack a frown or a smile.  We were right.  What she is doing in this picture here is what she did for three minutes straight.  Santa loved her and asked if he could maybe hold her a little longer - maybe we had some shopping to do?   

She actually looks a little annoyed that we would even bother taking her to see this funny looking man.  But then I think she is actually annoyed at the cameraman who kept saying, "do you have a special way of making him laugh?" Maybe it is my fault for dressing her in all black and misplacing her bow, but she did have on pink boots and a dress for the love of Santa.

Merry Christmas!

I had every intention of sending Christmas cards this year.  I was actually really looking forward to it.  I even had some family pictures taken for the big event; however, it is now December 13, time is running short, and by the time I got them in the mail it would be too late. 

I get a little envious of those women who somehow find the time in their busy schedules to take their baby to a photographer to get the perfect Christmas picture, create the perfect Christmas card, order the perfect Christmas card, and then actually mail the perfect Christmas card in a timely fashion.  As Carrie Bradshaw would say "I will never be the woman with the perfect hair, who can wear white and not spill on it."  So as a last minute option I created a quick Christmas card online for all seven of you to enjoy:

And here are a few other cute shots we got during the photo shoot:

Alarm Clock Exorcism

What makes this alarm clock so evil?

It's a funny story really.  My mom bought me this alarm clock to put in Chloe's room when she was first born, because the pediatrician had recommended that I feed Chloe for ten minutes on each breast.  Being a new mommy I, of course, took this advice as the gospel and insisted on watching the clock, switching at exactly ten minutes. 

The alarm clock has always been something of a pain in the ass, because the whole thing operates using only four buttons and the instructions might as well be in a different language - press mode six times, press function twice, then up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right B, A, Start just to set the time.  Chloe, some day I will explain to you that Nintendo reference.

As it turns out this alarm clock is one of Chloe's favorite toys.  She'll press the buttons and watch it light up for 15 minutes straight.  I rejoice in any object that entertains my daughter long enough to apply a whole face of makeup in the morning.  I was letting her play with it about a month ago in her bedroom when it somehow got pushed below her changing table.  Retrieving the tiny object would have required me lying flat on my stomach and reaching my arm under the table, which seemed like a waste of already rationed energy.  So I just left it there.  A mistake of epic proportions.

Now I mentioned in a previous post that Chloe woke up for one entire month religiously at 2:30 a.m.  You may already know where I'm going with this.  As I'm trying to write this I am shaking my head and laughing that irritated laugh where you can't believe you were so stupid... Yes, she had set the alarm to 2:30 a.m. and being that the alarm lasts for about 20 seconds and goes off only once, Paul and I were never lucky enough to hear the damn thing going off until four nights ago when I woke up and thought "what the heck is that noise?"  Sure enough, Chloe woke up within 20 seconds of the alarm going off. 

So three nights ago I removed the alarm from her bedroom, and for three nights the entire family has slept through the entire night.  Any day now I'm expecting the clock to rotate its head and spew pea soup. 

Blackberry Bliss

Now that the winter is upon us we no longer have the farmer's market as an option for fresh food.  Also, we find ourselves trekking to the grocery store far more infrequently. As a result, I have been stocking up on frozen fruits.  They work well for Chloe because they are already squishy when they unthaw.  In my infinite wisdom I thought a good option would be blackberries.  When I finally got them unthawed I realized they might be a little too messy so I thought I would just feed them to her with a spoon.  Well that lasted for one bite when she took the berry out of her mouth and rubbed it all along her chin.  I thought the hell with it and just gave her the whole bowl to feed herself.  Here are the results:

 If this were a math equation it would be something like Baby + Blackberries = Bath

Thanksgiving & Christmas Tree Hunting

Chloe's first Thanksgiving had its ups and downs.  We hung out at Kendra's house the entire day on Thursday while she and Paul made a big Thanksgiving feast.  Chloe caught a cold, but she was still in a pretty good mood.  When we were finally able to eat dinner (there was a bit of a fiasco in that Chad was late to fry the turkey, there was not enough oil to deep fry the turkey, oh wait now there is way too much oil to fry the turkey and it is boiling over, there wasn't enough propane to fry the turkey, etc.) we all really enjoyed ourselves. 

Chloe used snot on her turkey rather than gravy. (The turkey leg was for photo purposes only.  I did not feed my 10 month old daughter a whole turkey leg!)

She was pretty messy from the meal so we gave her a bath after dinner.  Taylor and Oli joined her while she splashed around, and it was easily Chloe's favorite bath ever.  She had so much fun playing in the tub and I laughed the entire time.

Chloe had a hard time sleeping that night.  She was super gassy and I think she got the turkey toots.  She was also very sick and was coughing and sneezing the whole night.  I ended up sleeping with her, but I probably only slept an hour or two.  There was a big party going on down stairs!  My dad picked us up at 5:00 a.m. and drove us out to meet my mom and my Aunt Paula in Saginaw.  Thankfully my dad volunteered to watch Chloe so that I could go on my annual Black Friday shopping drip with my mom!  I ended up being awake for something like 36 hours, but you find yourself doing all kinds of superhuman things as a mom.

We went Christmas tree shopping on Saturday.  Unfortunately, Paul had to work and so he missed our first annual Christmas tree hunt.  I found the perfect tree.  It was about 20 feet tall.  We cut the top 11.5 feet off of it and brought it home all the way to Grand Rapids where Paul had to cut another 2.5 feet off the top.  What can I say?  I love a big Christmas tree!  Chloe hated hunting for the tree this year.  Look at her in her snowsuit.  I would have hated it too!

We got the tree up on Sunday when we got home.  It took a few days to get it all decorated, but we love it now that it is up!

It is hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner.  I love thinking back to what we were doing at this same time last year.  I was getting to be very pregnant looking and I slept through most of the Thanksgiving events like our annual Christmas walk party.  My mom had to put the lights on our Christmas tree.  The snow could hardly put a damper on our spirits because we were getting so excited to meet Chloe.  This month is going to fly by like it usually does and soon here we will be having Chloe's first birthday party.  I can't believe I have an almost one year old!

Chloe - 10 Months

Ten months!!! At ten months Chloe is waving buh buy AND hello. She blows kisses, gives kisses, claps, and high fives. We taught her almost all of those "tricks" in one day. Right now she is just a little sponge.

This month Chloe's 10 month photos didn't go very well - primarily because I ended up buying one of these giant flowers that I swore I would never torment her with.  As you may be able to sense... she hated it!  I couldn't even get it down far enough so that her little ears weren't sticking out.  Instead of just taking it off and snapping a few cute ones without the headband I just kept sticking it back on her head and she just kept screaming at me.  We never did get a good shot. 

I thought for sure that Miss Amelia would be an early walker, but as it turns out she hasn't really been very interested in walking. For most of the month when we tried to walk with her she would get wet noodle legs. Why walk when you can move at lightening speed on your knees? She does walk all along the couch and even goes from toy to toy. Finally, at the end of the month, Chloe can stand unassisted for ten to twenty seconds. She thinks so hard about moving that foot to take a step, but she is still very cautious and isn't quite ready to go for it. She usually will just lunge forward or fall on her butt.

Chloe can go all the way up and down the stairs. She is pretty much the master of the stairs. Now that she can go down the stairs, she is obsessed with the basement stairs. What is in the basement you ask? A super cool slide! She loves to crawl UP the slide and loves when daddy lets her slide down without any additional support... ahem.

Forget about the cool light up toys that litter the living room, Chloe's favorite toys right now are the stairs, the kitchen table, any power/USB cord she can get her little fingers on, magazines (a delicacy), remotes, and cell phones. Oh and we cannot forget Griffin. Nothing compares to rubbing our face all over Griffin's back, dodging wet dog kisses, and taking advantage of a nice stepping stool. Also, he has the coolest toys - great for chewing.

We have discovered this month that Chloe is actually a little shy. One night Drew, Shantel, and Andrew came over to my parents' house. Andrew was cheesing it up and stealing the show. Chloe just looked at him like he was an alien. It took almost an hour before she even found the courage to move. She is a silent observer in new situations. I guess there is nothing wrong with taking in your surroundings before you decide to get comfortable.

Chloe is getting some new teeth and has been a little bit of a "cry baby" lately. She just doesn't feel good. She is normally so chill with an "oh well" kind of personality, but lately the slightest little thing can make her cry. I thought maybe she was just discovering that when she cries people pick her up, but in the end I think it is just the teeth. I hope it is just the teeth. Please God let it be the teeth.

On top of the tears, Chloe has been waking up at 2:30 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. for most of the month. The 2:30 appointment is for a snack and the 4:00 appointment is to be AWAKE. She is bright eyed and bushy tailed before the sun comes up. That is just too early for this momma! She is waking up so early that sometimes she can't make it through breakfast without falling asleep. I don't get to fall asleep on my desk. It's not fair! I'm hoping it is just a phase, but if you have any advice I'm open for suggestions!

Because I think Chloe will appreciate reading this someday, she occasionally bites me oh the arm or collar bone. She only bites me and it it happens maybe once per week. I will yelp and say "NO BITING!" and then she looks at me and cries and cries. I even have a bruise from the most recent nip. It's crazy! Again, open for suggestions here.

Chloe's first Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I love thinking back to just one year ago when Chloe was still a mystery to me. I remember sleeping through our annual Thanksgiving party. This year I will be running around chasing a ten month old baby. I have so much to be thankful for this year. Every morning I thank God for my family, our good health, the roof over our heads, the food on our table, and that we still have jobs to support our family. On top of that, I am so thankful to have such wonderful daytime help with Chloe between Melissa and my Mom. Another big change in my life this year is the addition of some wonderful new friends. I'm not sure how I would have made it through the year without the help of my Bradley girls. I thank God every day for leading me on the path to Lisa Miller's basement. Haha! Also, we have some amazing "mommy" neighbors - one in particular who has been an amazing wealth of knowledge and support. This has just been a great year, and I cannot imagine life getting any better than this. Thank you again, God, for your blessings, comfort, and grace.

Mom Skin

It's the weirdest thing. Ever since I became a mom, it's like I've been reborn. It seems that no matter what I do, there is always a sign across my forehead that reads "I'm a Mom." It doesn't matter that my ripped up jeans are the complete opposite of "mom jeans," because you can still see parts of my mom skin, which struggles to cover my enlarged mom heart.

What is it about me that just screams "mom" lately? Is it that last remaining bit of stretched skin on my tummy that serves as a constant reminder of the commitment I made to Chloe, much like my wedding band serves as a reminder of the commitment I made to Paul?

Is it because I no longer walk into a room wearing four and a quarter inch heels and a new Coach purse slung over my shoulder, but instead a pair of flats and a diaper bag?

Is it my watchful eyes? The bags beneath them?

Is it because talking to a person without kids sometimes feels like I am conversing with an entirely different species? Because all I want to talk about is how Chloe has diarrhea right now. And I think she might be allergic to spinach. And is that normal? Wait, are you sleeping? Did I just put you to sleep? Oh, you are tired from being up at 2:00 a.m. last night. Phew. Finally, something we have in common. Except it is different, because you probably had your hand jammed down a Doritos bag and didn't have a baby latched to your boob.

Is it the faint undertone of sour milk in my classic perfume?

Is it my constant state of nostalgia? Except I yearn only for the moments that occurred AC, After Chloe. The unfamiliar tears shed from simply packing away 3-6 month clothing?

Is it because carrying around an 18 pound baby somehow feels like I am carrying around the weight of the world?

What I do know is that no amount of money could turn me back. It is like once you've discovered God, freedom... sugar. I love this skin I'm in - this mom skin.