4th of July 2011

I LOVE the 4th of July.  In fact, I daresay it's my favorite holiday!  Warm weather, parades, water, bbqs, fireworks, and spending the day/weekend with your family!  This year was a blast and it was so much more fun since Chloe is old enough to play more!  We started the day at the Hurricane parade, where Chloe cried her eyes out at all of the loud noises and sadly, the most entertaining part was the old car pulling the boat (as seen above).  Thankfully, that was the last disappointment of the day :)  Chloe participated in the 1 year old foot race...and won!  I was so proud of her!  I didn't even think she'd leave the starting line, but I took her water bottle and a tootsie roll to the other side and she was rearing to go!  Ronnie had to hold her back so she didn't go before it was time and I like to think it was because I was at the finish line, not the candy.  She won two tickets and surprise, surprise, chose an airplane!  After that we went to the slip n' slide where the firemen had extended the ladder of their truck and had their hose spraying from the top.  Again, Chloe surprised us and went straight into the water and played to her hearts content (she usually freaks out if there's water falling from above her)!  Ronnie and I even joined in since it was so stinkin' muggy out and were cool and comfortable for the rest of the afternoon.  Later we rejoined Ronnie's family for lunch and then headed over to the new splash pad!  Again, Chloe has NEVER played on a splash pad because they freak her out for some reason, but today, after a small hesitation, she jumped right in!  It made me so happy to finally see her laughing and playing and splashing.  Ever since then, splash pads have been a success!  Hooray!  After that, we headed home for family nap time.

In evening we went to my parents house for a perfect summer bbq with burgers, Mom's homemade potato salad and watermelon.  I think Chloe's courage ran out for the day about the time we lit the first sparkler...fireworks were a no go and the only way she sat through the big show in town was with Ronnie's hands firmly planted over her ears.  It was exactly as the 4th of July should be, and only because of our brave men and women, past and present, who serve and protect our country.  Hats off to them.  Happy 4th of July!

Our Cute Chloe

Chloe loves having bows and pretty things in her hair and is really good at keeping them in

Whenever we go to Nana's house she begs to go outside and jump and will start trying to jump before she ever gets on.

                                           

Chloe LOVES bubbles and Elmo.  Whenever she see bubbles she repeats "Bubbles?  Bubbles?" until someone takes her outside to blow bubbles.  Here Elmo shirt is her favorite and she picked it out all by herself at Target.

Chloe still sleeps with her binky and gets to have it on long car rides.  I don't know when I'll have the courage to ween her off of it since she automatically goes to bed when she has her binky.

I was afraid she wouldn't love swimming this summer since the Community Center pool scared her so much, but she's been  a little fish at the neighborhood pool!  We try to go a couple of times a week.  She doesn't like to sit in her floaty anymore, but instead likes the arm floaties.

Here's Chloe with her favorite Elmo that she just HAD to have when she saw it (I swear I don't spoil her...) and her pretty hair :)  

Chloe LOVES driving the car with Mom and Dad around the block or to the pool.  She gets in and turns the wheel, says "Beep beep car!", and turn all the buttons and knobs.  This is her Little Lord Fauntleroy haircut...the bangs were just a little too blunt...

Swinging is right up there with jumping.   She raises her arms in the air and say "wee" or "yee haw".  When she says it, it sound more like "wing" than "swing" and always ends with a question mark.

This is Chloe's favorite hiding place and a great source of entertainment when I am busy doing something with the computer aka time wasting.  She'll sit down, scoot all the way back, say "see ya" and then very carefully shut the door, making sure not to squish her fingers.  She's always been very good about not squishing the fingers in doors or drawers (it's the cupboard where the tower should be, but Ronnie works on it all the time, so it's empty).

This is another form of amusement for her when we're in the computer room or "Daddy's room".  You can find her playing with rubber bands, old cds, sticks of ram, and screw drivers.  I'm not lazy, I'm just helping her to learn about computers :)

Chloe is now 19 months and is busy, busy, busy!  Here are some things she's been up to:

• She has started climbing!  She has never been interested before, but now I find her on top of the table, on the couch and trying to scale the bookcase
• She LOVES books!  She has started bringing me books in the middle of the day to read and likes having a few in the car.  Books keep her entertained in sacrament meeting and she likes reading them in her own language.  Her favorite books are Winnie the Pooh and she can name all of the characters (Pooh, Tigger, Eyore,  Piglet).  Elmo is her other favorite.
• Chloe has started talking in sentences "Where Daddy go?"... "I did it!"..."Daddy's turn"..."Ouchy bum"..."I want one"..."Mommy car"..."Cars get you!"..."I love you Elmo"...She gets excited to eat in the morning and at night and will say "Breakfas!" and "Ninner!"  She's always coming up with new words and sentences!  Many times she'll look me right in the eyes and repeat the same word over and over again, but I can't figure out what she's saying and gets really frustrated.
• She is deathly afraid of moving vehicles.  You may think this is a good thing, but it's definitely a double edged sword,.  It's good for obvious reasons, but it makes it hard when we need to walk down the street or through the parking lot into work because she'll get hysterical, grab both of my legs and start yelling "Mommy!  Cars get you!  Get you!"  until I pick her up.  I'm not exactly sure where this phobia came from, but I'll take it!
• She still loves babies :)  She always wants to hold them and will clap her hands and extend her arms then try to pick them up (thankfully she tries to do it the correct way and not by their heads).  She always says "hi baby" or "baby sad" and loves to push dollies in strollers and wrap them up and hold them.  She'll be a great big sister, if not a little overbearing ;)
• She is getting much more friendly to new people and being more social with kids.  
• Reverse psychology works amazingly well on her...as in every time.  Think of any situation and it works -"I don't want to change your diaper" she  comes running..."I'm gonna eat it" she takes a bite... "My Daddy" she runs to him..."I'm gonna pick up the blocks" she gets to work...I'm totally lovin' it!  I hope she doesn't figure it out for a while!
• She is still a little snuggle bug and gives the best hugs and kisses (and if you're Nana you get EXTRA long kisses for some reason).  We read a book and I rock her to sleep every night (unless Ronnie does it) and get a little teary eyed that someday she'll be all grown up and I wont get any more Chloe snuggles.
• She's started dancing and does the funniest little side to side rock movements.  She loves to dance with Meg and Steph when they play it on the Wii, but only if she has a num-chuck.
• She's a lot less picky than she used to be!  She'll eat almost anything we give her, including fruits and veggies!  Hooray!  One day she just started taking longer naps and eating everything in sight, so I'm thinking I have a growth spurt to thank :)
• Her favorite toy right now is her blocks.

We love our little girl to bits and she keeps us laughing and loving every day!  She is seriously THE sweetest girl and always remembers her please, thank yous, excuse mes, and bless yous (blessy!)!  She amazes me every day with her capacity to love and learn and teaches me something new every day!  We love you Chloe Ann!

Chauffeur for a Day

Ronnie works at the ISS (International Student Services) office on campus at the college and works with a lot of the foreign students.  He's become good friends with a Chinese boy named Steven, who's Dad happens to own a gold mine in China (that's not all there is to Steven, but it's kind of fun to say).  Needless to say, Steven is wealthy and he asked us to drive him in his 2011 car to the airport in Las Vegas and take him shopping.  As I listened to Steven talk about China and the "social" politics as well as the actual government, it made me more aware of just how blessed we are to be Americans.  Sure, our systems aren't perfect, but we have more freedoms than anyone in the world. What's more, we are still a nation that was founded on and the majority still believes in "Christian values".  The real kicker was as we were pulling into Vegas, he tells us that he would like to buy a watch for his cousin-in-law and sheepishly asks if $3,000 would be enough to buy a good one.  I think both of our jaws literally dropped to the ground.  We assured him that he could indeed, and could find one for much less.  He told us that it had to be atleast that much to show his relative how much he meant to him.  After much searching (feeling tired, hot, and very pregnant) we found a him a $5,000 Tag Heuer watch that would do.  That's more than we paid for either of our cars!  We later dropped him off at the airport, then headed to the Cheesecake Factory for some yummy dinner and DIVINE cheesecake.  On our way out of the restaurant we showed Chloe the aquarium and she was enchanted by the fish.  She got super excited and kept shouting "Feesh, feesh!"

Fayette....Utah...

 The only way Chloe would let AJ touch her

 Cruisin' with Dad on the "sicle" (Chloe's word for bike or motorcycle)

 Hangin' out with Great Grandma Millie

 Feelin' like a big girl with Aunt Meg

 Lovin' on the kitties...hopefully she doesn't inherit my allergy to them :(

 Papa and Nana with their girls :)

 Little Alec hitching a ride with his cousin Kalob

Favorite activity of the day: running up and down the trailer

Twice a year my Dad's side of the family meets in the middle at my uncle's house in Fayette-on Memorial Day and Halloween.  The reason for the title is because whenever I say "We're going to Fayette"...people always ask "New York?".  No....it's in Utah....by Gunnison.  It's a quiet little town with beautiful weather and not much to do besides be with the people you love.  This trip was interesting because A) we were announcing the new baby and it was cold so Chloe had to wear a jacket over her Big Sister shirt and B) Chloe barfed all over her car seat as we were pulling into the Cheese Factory because she was swallowing fruit snacks whole. Thankfully I thought ahead and didn't have her in her Big Sister shirt that nobody saw anyways :)  Once we were there though, we had a blast bbq, playing with cousins and catching up.  My Grandma even helped me finish the baby leggings we started knitting a year ago for Chloe, that will now be for the new baby.  We love spending time with family, especially our Northern members that we don't see very often!

Lately...As in the Last Three Months....

 My little sister Steph graduated from high school and is now a big college student!  We've missed having her around all the time!

 Chloe is such an awesome helper and wants to be involved in everything!  I am so proud of her for her willingness to help and for how sweet and polite she is!

 She has mastered the art of diaper removal, and has thankfully only removed one poopy diaper!  She has now graduated to removing her pants and is always very please with herself when she achieves it!

 I'm LOVING taking her out on Mommy/daughter dates to lunch, the park, the pool and shopping!  She already sifts through the clothes racks and exclaims "cute!"

 This is Chloe's bff Jordi.  I work with his mom at the daycare, so we get to see him every day.  The first thing she does when we get to work is find Jordan and then they run to each other and share a hug.  They chase each other, share, fight, and watch movies together.  They've even already shared a kiss :)  Whenever we leave she makes sure to say "see ya Jordi!"

 This is Chloe at 18 months in her favorite Elmo shirt, that she just had to have!  The bubbles in her hand were the only way that I could get her to hold still for the picture :)