Happy Anniversary!

February 3 is a big day for me. TEN years ago, I left the MTC to fly to Canada for my mission. I can't believe it's been TEN years. That was an important day as I entered the mission field to find those who needed to hear the Gospel from me, and the person that I was then was about to be drastically altered, for the better, as a result of my service.

Maybe just as important is that it's also the THREE year anniversary of when Bryan and I got married. We've had a lot of threes in our years together, and I thought a list might be a fun way to commemorate:

3 pregnancies (but only one baby)

3 weddings (Ours, Cathie's, and Bryan's mom's)

3 deaths (Bryan's dad, Bryan's Grandma Wanlass, and my Grandma Dees)

3 new nephews (Jaxx, who was born on the night of our first date; Crew; and Stone)

3 fights (Maybe. At the very most.)

3 types of flooring downstairs (we started with my original tile and carpet, then pulled that out and put in bamboo, then we just switched that out for walnut)

3 t.v.s (I finally broke down and gave up my 36 inch behemoth Tube tv. We moved the 50 inch Plasma out of our bedroom and down to the living room, and put a respectable 32 inch LCD in our bedroom. What a compromise.)

3 of the happiest years of my life!

Thank you, sweetheart, for putting up with me! I love you!

2 month old pics

Here are some pictures of 2 month old Chloe. Special thanks to Malissa for the fabulous photos!

Catching Up

Friday, November 13, 2009: Chloe had this weird little vibration/kicking thing that she'd do while still in-utero. It was always a surprise, and I'd look down at my belly and ask her, "What are you doing in there? How can you kick so rapidly?" On this day, I was holding Chloe while sitting on the couch (I basically had held her non-stop for her first week of life) and I saw and felt her do the same little leg kick again. It was such a shock to see it happen this time. It was also a great moment of connection with her. It was HER in there!

November 18, 2009: Happy Birthday to me. 31 years old. Wow. That just sounds old. This year's theme song is "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder. It's really more about Chloe than about me, but isn't that what Motherhood is all about?

December 16-19, 2009: Chloe took her first road trip to California for Auntie Cathie's wedding. Time was when Bryan and I could pack a bag, throw it in the back of the Durango and be on our way. Here's a picture of the car once we had packed all that we needed for the trip. How could one little tiny person need so much stuff??

Aunt Chelsea pushed Chloe in the stroller while we went inside the temple for Adam and Cathie's sealing. While she was walking around out front, the temple workers invited them inside to sit in the waiting room. Afterwards, we were walking through the foyer to the waiting room, admiring the beautiful decor along the way, when I heard a baby's cry. It was Chloe, and I knew it, not just because she was the only baby around, but because she was MY baby and I knew her cry. I elbowed past Bryan and charged down the hallway toward the waiting room, as fast as was temple-appropriate. It was so innate, automatic, and instant. I'd even knock over Bryan to get to my baby!

While in California, we were all gathered around watching Chloe drink a bottle. She's even cute while eating! She had finished, but kept wanting to suck on the bottle. I didn't want her to because I didn't want her to swallow so much air. I started thinking out loud, "Maybe if I took a nipple without being attached to a bottle...but then she'd suck in air, so maybe if I plugged the hole up with something, she could just suck without the air...." My sister Chelsea looked at me and said, "Dude, that's a pacifier!" Dang! Someone beat me to it! Kind of like last winter. I was trying to invent "something that had the warmth of a shoe, with the ease of a flip-flop." I pondered that phrase for about a week until I realized, it's already been invented. They're called slippers.