Reving up for #1!!

So I didn't want to wait until after we took Chloe's birthday pictures to post some and update a little because then I'd be spending an hour waiting for fifty pictures to load that no one would have to time to look at and read anyway! So here's what's been going on since Craig's birthday. I have been overloaded with school, but that's not new, Chloe is ALMOST walking (although we've been saying that for months- this time we mean it though!). She walks between couch to piano bench or from Mommy to Daddy or from Mommy to couch, etc. And she can fall and not cry most of the time, so I'm taking that as a good sign! Craig is working hard, both at work and at home, which we all appreciate SO much (did I mention I have the best husband in the world? I practically break into tears when after coming home from running whatever fifty errands I have to do on the weekend to find he's done the dishes, swept the floor, cleaned the bathrooms, vacuumed, raked the leaves, mowed the lawn, organized the garage, etc, etc, ETC!) All in all, life is busy, but we're all looking forward to the end of the semester when I can relax and stay at home and reorganize my life for a month before heading back in the Spring! However, I'll be student teaching in the Spring (just found out I'll be teaching in Windsor the whole semester! Hooray! That means no more spending $40 a week on gas traveling to Greeley and back...) and then...I'll graduate (!!!) and have the whole summer off, no summer classes, to just relax and (hopefully!) prepare for whatever teaching position I may have in the fall again. And so it goes....but really it all goes well. We've been so blessed and have had a ball with Chloe this past year and look forward to the many MANY years ahead of us! :-) Enjoy the pics of Chloe! (Since we rarely take pictures of the rest of us around here...)

Summer and Other Fun Times

Okay, a lot to update here. I'll just do a quick synopsis since the last time I posted, which was obviously quite a few months ago. We went camping, I started classes over the summer (YUCK!) then finished them with flying colors and as a treat, Chloe and I went and visited all our family and friends out in Utah! Craig had to work, so he stayed behind and I had a good time visiting with my side of the family- and my good friend Bonnie, whom I haven't seen in ages! Chloe had a good time frolicking with her little boy Tanner, and it was great for me to finally meet him too! Came home, spent a week sort of trying to calm down while my fall semester engines started revving up. Started classes again and then went back to the old schedule of waking up, trying to get things done super early before Chloe wakes up, fail at that, rush Chloe into a changed diaper and new clothes after she wakes up, feed her a quick breakfast, try to spend a few minutes with her before I kiss her goodbye for the morning and send her next door to grandma's while I gather all my things together and leave for school unshowered and halfway prepared for my schoolwork, come home as quick as I can and get some things done while Chloe is napping, fail at that, then throw dinner together and spend the rest of the evening enjoying my time with my family instead of doing my homework. I can't wait until I graduate, let me just say that!! Other than that, we're all doing great! Craig celebrated his 24th birthday and is starting another soccer season. He's also been fixing odds and ends around the house (many thanks to him for finally putting a fan in our bathroom while Chloe and I were in Utah!!!). Since school started he's sort of been the maid of the house, cleaning up after Chloe and my messes, and been pretty patient about it all things considered, which Chloe and I are very thankful for. Shortly after we got back from Utah, Chloe finally learned how to crawl on all fours instead of her seal flop she used for getting around, and she pulls herself up on EVERYTHING, finally discovering that she can move and explore. We're pretty sure she knows what "Dada" means now and she likes to say "Uh-oh" in her little baby way whenever she drops a toy ("Oh-ohhhhh"). It's quite cute actually. And just this mornign she climbed all the way up our big staircase unassisted! I was so proud of her, and she didn't seem to understand why I was so excited...Anyway, there are a million other things I should be doing right now that I'm not, so I better get on that. Enjoy the photos! Much love to all...

Camping, 2007!

Okay, okay, so I know I always post a thousand pictures, but I just can't ever bring myself to narrow it down to just two or three pictures. It's impossible!



Here is my neice Emily and Chloe in the stroller. Emily liked the basket a lot better than the seat.


















Wazaaap?


















Chloe was a great camper, and a great hiker too. She seems to enjoy being outside. I'm sure it beats sitting in our bedroom while I do hours of reading for class.


















Aw, our cute family.


















Chloe slept in a box while we were there and she did really good for the most part. One night it rained in the evening and it was pretty chilly that night. We put Seth's hat on her head to keep her warm, but she woke up in the middle of the night and the hat had somehow gotten pulled down over her face. She was pretty terrified when she woke up, not to mention her hands were ice cold because she kicked all her blankets off. I felt so bad that I took her to bed with us and then she was very content. She was between Craig and I and she would just look at me with a big grin on her face, then look at Craig, then look back at me until she drifted back to sleep.




















Indian Princess Chloe casts her spell of good will.



















Pikaboo!


















Ouch!




















We brought all sorts of toys for her to play with, and what does she do? Pull her sock off and stuff it in her mouth. It stayed there for like fifteen minutes before one of us finally took it out of her mouth and put it back on her foot.




















The lovely lodge. We stayed in here for the evening when it rained- the thunder was really loud! But luckily they had a big fireplace inside so we were still able to cook the cobbler. That would hav been a real disaster!




















Craig being silly. There's a black and white shot of Chloe that we framed on our wall from the last set of pictures that I took of her in her blessing dress. He said he was trying to emulate that pic.




















There were a lot of boxes in the lodge and we had to set her down for a minute. She made good friends with cardboard boxes on this trip...




















She was quite happy in the mornings.




















Hello!

Chloe: Should I tell him there's a huge bug on the back of his head?

If this doesn't make you want to have a baby girl, than you're not human.

I know what you all are thinking, so I'll just go ahead and say it.
These are dang cute pictures.
Not to brag or anything, but for an amature photographer, I'd say I'm not too bad. :-) Seriously, I did take these, though.
So, like, if someone out there had a desire to call me and tell me that I am an amazing photographer, I wouldn't mind.
So this is the dress that Grandma Ellingson made for Chloe for when she was blessed. It was far too big for her when she was born, but this was a perfect age for her to be able to finally fit into it. I saw it in the closet the other day and I decided I needed to get some good pictures of her in it before she grew out of it.

This was mine and Chloe's fun trip to Utah to drop Scott off at the MTC. Chloe got to meet all her cousins for the first time and now I think she's quite bored at home with no one to play with. We left on Saturday and got back on Wednesday night. I came home to a bouqet of flowers, a sweet card, and a clean house from my wonderful husband. What more could a girl ask for? Needless to say I now know I have the BEST husband in the world. Chloe says "nuh-uh, I have the best daddy in the world". So I stand corrected. :-)

This is her oldest cousin Rachel playing train on Chloe's stomach. Woo-woo!















Hanging out with Aunt Karen. Chloe loved Karen. She laughed every time Karen tickled her or played pickaboo or even looked at her crosseyed. I guess when you have a two year old girl and twin 18 month old girls, you know what works!














This actually wasn't in Utah, but it was the pretties rainbow I've seen in a long time. So here it is in our family pictures...
















This also was at home. Chloe puts all sorts of things in her mouth, including her high chair...















This is Amy, Chloe, and Emily. Amy and Emily loved to drop whatever they were doing and run up to Chloe. They would point at her and say "baby?". Then they would squat a little and shake the carseat or play with the jingling toy hanging in front of Chloe.















These are the twins that were separated at birth. Kaleb and Chloe look so similar! I thought this picture was funny.
Kaleb: "Hey there pretty lady"
Chloe: "Gasp! Get your paws off me!"















Amy and Chloe hanging out. Chloe loves to look at other little kids.