Almost Time!

2 days shy of 40 weeks

The big sister! She's been playing with baby and becoming good friends with her Aunt Hannah.  She will even ask her to hold her!

With Mama... she is one big girlie.  She wears 2T already (and sometimes 3T). It is fun hearing her jabber and see her run. 

~ November ~

Just a few days shy of 37 weeks! :-D I'm not coordinated enough to take a self-picture AND smile... :-P

So Dwight took this one. :-) There is no point in taking pictures from the front, because from that angle I don't look pregnant. I don't know where these babies hide (Chloe was the same way - though they do seem to enjoy pressing against my tailbone), but it is nice that I can still wear some of my regular clothes (so that they are long sleeved!). Brrr - it's cold here! My midwife says all is looking great and I'm only measuring 1 week small. So, I'm actually bigger this time around. LOL. I've gained more this time, too. Which worries me, because Chloe was big for a CO  high-altitude baby. ;-)

Chloe likes to "dress" herself. :-)

She usually has the right idea... she'll get it eventually! :-) 

We take lots of pictures when she is sleeping. 

She loves to eat bananas. With the peel still on - she is our lil' monkey!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! :-) We missed our families, but had a fun week of celebrating our 2nd anniversary together and then spending Thanksgiving with friends. It is fun to make special meals and get the table and us all fancy. Dwight surprised me by coming home a few hours early on Monday... or maybe  I surprised him, since I still had my curlers in. :-P And then he came home early on Wednesday with Thurs. - Friday off. I love having him at home!

We're so thankful for each other, and I love him so much! I'm so glad we have Christ as the center of our home and marriage though, because the longer I'm a wife or Mum, the less "I know the way to do things!" ;-) Dwight is so loving and patient - I'm glad we get to learn together. :-)

A Fall Day with Chloe-girl.

Chloe was acting like she just needed a change of pace and to get out of the apartment for a bit, so we went to the tennis-court-turned-park for some pictures. :-) She doesn't really want to smile for the camera, but I think she is cute nonetheless. :-) 

Gotta love her hair, and the drool. ;-) 

Here you go, Mum!

Everything goes in the mouth... 

She looks so serious. 

I love her faces!

Her daddy likes this one... 

Some birds flew by. She loves birds!

Stuff and Pictures. :-)

Sugar and spice
and everything nice
that's what little girls are made of


Sunshine and rainbows
and ribbons for hair bows
that's what little girls are made of

Tea parties, laces

and baby doll faces

that's what little girls are made of
- Unknown

Life has been... normal lately. :-) Dwight's been studying, Chloe's been growing, Sprout and more visibly myself have been growing, etc. Chloe is fun, I love being her mum. She had a day where for some reason she decided to see if she could still crawl, and after getting used to her only walking, that was pretty comical. And then she broke out into a run one day, and mercy. When she starts doing that more, I'm in BIG trouble. There is no way I could keep up with her! She is fast!


She is cutting her 1-year molars, which basically means that most nights no one under this roof (well, hopefully we don't bother the neighbors too much) gets much sleep, but at least it is temporary! It is so sad when she just cries and cries... the poor girlies pain threshold is like a -10. But she is still our chunky monkey - at her 12 month apt. she was about 24 lbs. and 32 in.


And she likes to chatter and sing here at home... lots. It is fun to start recognizing words! So far she seems to know and can say - yes (and nods her head), all done, thank you, again, drink, banana, mum/ mama, dad/ dada, oh yeah, and peek-a-boo (just drops the k). {I should write things like this down because I don't remember what else she has said!} She has pretty reddish hair and a temper to match. ;-) Can't imagine where that comes from! She also seems to think that her diaper days are over. She keeps trying to get up when I'm changing her and telling me that she is all done. "All done with what?", I said the first time she did this. "Your diaper? Oh no you aren't!" "Yes," she said (grinning and nodding her head emphatically). "All done." Not quite, my lil' missy! Then later (she was in a dreaded velcro cover) she brought the whole thing to me after she had taken it off, with another "all done." I'm trying to think whether training should commence or if it is just a fascination with the phrase "all done." :-P 

Her cowgirl jammies. On her left it says I ♥ my pony. :-) 

30 weeks. Won't be long! We've already discussed NOT going two weeks past the due date again with our midwife. ;-) 

A very blurry 4-D ultrasound picture of our Sproutsie (taken at 30 weeks). Can you see the lil' nose and mouth? Baby's eyes are open in the picture, and is covering the other side of his/her face with his/her arm. (I can't wait to find out what we are having!!!!) Sproutsie has lots of hair just like Chloe did. They must get that from Dwight. I was still practically bald on my 2nd birthday. 

A better Groupon deal ;-)

You can get $20+ worth of personal and home products from soap.com (with free 1-2 day shipping) when you buy THIS GROUPON for $10 and pair it with the coupon code SOAPBABY. If they allow you to send in regular coupons to be applied to your account (like their sister-site diapers.com), you could even send in those ahead of your order to further stretch your dollars. ;-)

*Details: The Groupon needs to be purchased today and needs to be used after Sept. 30th. It expires Dec. 28, 2010. The coupon code SOAPBABY may only be used on a first time order at soap.com.

The Birthday Girl :-)

She had a lovely birthday, getting to celebrate with with Grandma & Grandpa Bailey (and Aunt Hannah, Aunt Abby, Aunt Dora and Uncle Cliff), Papa & Baba Pleckham (and Aunt Kate, Uncle Henry and Uncle Sam), getting to see her three Great-Grandmas and her "Grandpa that is Great", her Uncle Andy and Aunt Renee & cousin Alissa, attending Tim and Evy's wedding, and enjoying a delightful (haha!) 40+ hours strapped in a car seat over the course of a week. She was actually really great in the car, I prayed and prayed and hoped and hoped... and she only had 3 crying spells the entire trip (each lasting about 15 minutes until she fell asleep)! And amazingly... she still gets excited when it is time to go "bye-bye!" 

~ 1 Year ~

 "For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth."

-Psalm 139: 13-15

One year ago was our lil' Sweet Pea's due date. Never mind baby wasn't showing signs of coming - we were so excited! We wanted to know whether baby was a "he or she," what baby looked like, how life would be with our very own little one, etc. We soon found out!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above." 

-James 1:17

Our little daughter was born on the 20th and we thought she was beautiful! We named her Chloe Sophia, which means full of life and growing in wisdom. We are very happy that the Lord chose to place her in our family; she is a gift that we cherish! And we are so grateful for God's protection over her this past year - we love being her Daddy and Mum. :-) 

Happy Birthday to you, lil' darling!

"I sing for joy at the works of Your hands."
-Psalm 92:4

This blogger is a genius.

You can check out her kitchen transformation for yourself HERE, but here is the jist of it. She is renting, had ugly & dark cabinets there and wanted them to be white. Landlords said no painting, so she used contact paper (no kidding!) which she can remove easily (I think she said she double-checked!) when the lease is up. Makes me wonder if I ought to try! (Though I most likely, very+very+very likely, won't.)

She also has the happy, chirpy bird dishes... so pretty. :-)

Pictures - he found the adapter. ;-)

"I like to make faces. I also like it when people tell me I'm cute. ;-) " - Chloe

Upside down. She about did a summersault off the bed yesterday. *That* wouldn't have been fun. 

Peek-a-boo!

She makes us happy... and unsure of our parenting skills. ;-)

What I'm looking like - 25 weeks. 

What I feel like! ;-) 

I tried to figure out how to load the videos but I think my internet connection is too slow. Oh well. At least I can connect (which isn't always the case!). Our apt. complex has free internet, and it used to reach our apt., but it doesn't too well anymore. But hey, something is better than nothing! ;-D And to think this stuff didn't even exist all that long ago... it is sad how dependent I can be on it! 

C.S. Lewis Quote & Chloe stuff. :-)

It is not your business to succeed, but to do right; when you have done so, the rest lies with God. 

- C.S. Lewis

Life has been pretty busy around here lately. I can hardly believe Chloe turns 1 year this month! She certainly isn't a lil' baby anymore. :-) I wanted to upload some videos that we took last week of her walking but I can't find my little gadget that I use to get the pics from my camera to my laptop (I'll ask Dwight to hunt for it - I put things in the strangest places, yet he has always found them!). Yup! She can walk halfway across a room now, she just stops because she isn't too sure of herself yet... I suppose it is time to go shoe shopping, eh? :-) And she never ceases to crack us up. She has this motion/ action she had been doing to us a few times... and then we figured out what she was wanting. She was asking us for a shoulder rub! Of all things! ;-) I guess she has seen daddy giving them to mama and she wanted one too! She gets so happy when we oblige and then scampers off to play! It is hilarious. She'll also get these giggle fits where she just can't seem to stop. Well we probably keep each other laughing during those. ;-) She loves her farm animal books & puzzle and Dwight has taught the two of us (haha) how to correctly make the sounds. She is a expert at pig sounds, but is working on the cow and goat ones, too. :-) 


And she still loves to cook. :-) We made apple butter and will be trying to come up with some peach butter later today. After I take care of our atrocious-looking fridge... and take care of Mt. Dishmore. We are silly. We have a dishwasher, but we have never used it. Not once. And we won't until someone can prove to us that the people who lived here formerly washed all their food off before putting their dishes in AND that there aren't lil' ancient particles that will spew out onto the dishes we'll be eating off of. Okay, so we are weird. :-P The joys of apt. living. ;-D

Just passing fun stuff along...

So here are two "deals" for today that I've heard about online. I just did the tea one {yum, yum!!!!}, I'm waiting to tell my "Miss Gap" sister about the Groupon one (she is at work). ;-)

1. Free Gourmet Tea Sampler. This one is for those like me who can visit a mall, spend a few hours there, get my "mall fix" and then be good for 6+ months. But, we SURE do like our tea! ;-)  

*I just checked this one again and they've reached their 1000 free (sampler + shipping) limit, but you can still get the sampler (worth 20 cups for loose, 25 cups for bagged) for free, you'll just have to pay the $1.99 shipping. I'm sorry!*

Free Tea









2. This one can't be used online (after it is bought anyways) so it is for people like Kate who view shopping as therapy. ;-) {If you do this one, please consider using me as your "referrer," it will make for a free date for Dwight and I down the road.::grin::}

$50 at Gap for $25 Groupon deal

Free Sam's Club Days (August 6-8, 2010)

Just passing on info from an email I received - you can go to Sam's Club beginning tomorrow (August 6) through Sunday (August 8th) without having to have a membership, and you won't have to pay the typical 10% upcharge (at least according to the email I got from them). They are also giving away free chicken and pizza at some point, but I can't find the details about that...

Hum... so do we need anything from there? :-)

One of those days

My Heart Is Filled With Thankfulness

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To Him who bore my pain
Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace
And gave me life again
Who crushed my curse of sinfulness
And clothed me with His light
And wrote His law of righteousness
With pow’r upon my heart

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To Him who walks beside
Who floods my weaknesses with strength
And causes fears to fly
Whose every promise is enough
For every step I take
Sustaining me with arms of love
And crowning me with grace

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To Him who reigns above
Whose wisdom is my perfect peace
Whose every thought is love
For every day I have on earth
Is given by the King
So I will give my life my all
To love and follow Him

by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
© 2003 Thankyou Music
(Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

 I know we all have days where you wonder what *else* you can possibly break. :-P The other day (just as I finished the previous post, actually!) I knocked my poor already dying computer off the bed. The smashed cord is now beyond repair and so my computer is now just collecting dust (the battery died last month  - I'm using Dwight's computer right now). Then when I was putting away the dishes, one of my favorite glasses smashed on the floor. I was frustrated at myself but didn't cry until I couldn't get the door open (to get to the broom and vacuum) because glass was wedged underneath. THAT is when I lost it. I bawled like a baby and then the true baby decided to join in with me. We were a mess. And the kitchen didn't look at that great either. ;-)

I definitely wasn't having a grateful heart focus on God, but rather on stuff and how it wasn't going the way I'd like. Instead if being grateful in all things I was choosing to not abide in the grace that was there for me all along. What a sad way to live, even if just for a moment! God has  done so much for us:

*Even with over 100 people at work getting laid off on Monday, Dwight still has his job. 
*That Sprout is growing strong and is healthy - I love feeling the kicks and Dwight can feel them now at times too!
*A great church and wonderful friends there. We're so glad that George's heart attack didn't happen until he was back in the States after being in Papua New Guinea for over a month (He served there as a missionary and has been translating the Bible into their language. He and his wife went back to deliver the first copy to them!) and that he is doing well now.
*That Chloe and I felt great for our lil' trip away. Right after writing the post about that (Yikes, things happen after I write posts) we had apple juice for a snack. Unopened bottle but we still got sick. I had painful cramps and all that and she was throwing up. Not fun. I'm glad it didn't last long! (Though Chloe managed to call her daddy at work while he was in the middle of a meeting without me knowing because I was too busy lying on the floor moaning to take notice. Oops.)
*Provided pretty blackout curtains that have Chloe finally taking naps (after about 9 months!) and sleeping better at night. Cheapest ones at Wal-mart people. And they are wonderful!
*Provided a  regular sized trash can. Yes, after 1.5 years of marriage we finally got one. I'm loving it! Little things in life make me happy. :-)
*A loving and wise husband. He (and his lil' helper girlie) made me the prettiest cake for my birthday last week. And he surprised me by coming home early and with a rose. And he encouraged me to get the shampoo that I wasn't buying since we married even though the others gave me bad hives and blisters - I was blown away when he suggested it, I thought he was the sweetest thing ever that he thought of it, and even knew the exact kind!
*Provided pretty coral pink toenail polish. Call me shallow - but pretty toes make me quite giddy. ;-)
* Provided everything that we need for Sproutsie whether baby is a he or a she. ;-) And that Hannah (Dwight's sister) doesn't mind coming out to stay with us for 6 weeks around the due date. I didn't know where Chloe would go when I was in labor and it is so nice to not have to even think about it now! 
*Provided lots of yummy cream cheese! (and great sales on summertime fruit - I loaded up!)
*I needed ziplock bags to freeze some of the fruit I had bought, but didn't have any. What did Dwight find in the mailbox? A box of cleaning supplies and quart-sized ziplock bags, just when I most needed them! God knew!
*Provided our beautiful apartment. I love our home (after all, it is where we honeymooned and brought Chloe home... I'm going to cry when it comes time to move!), and it seems so open now that we moved our bed out to the living room  so that there will be space for Hannah and Sprout when Dec. comes. (We weren't sleeping in the bedroom anyways since Chloe slept better if I wasn't in the same room. She is a smart cookie.) God is so wonderful to provide just what we need! 


more to be added later...

And more pictures - Post 3

Our third day was much quieter, as we were a bit tired. ;-) {I can't blame her for not being too sure about it all— new place, new noises and it got down to about 40 at night - it was in the upper 80's/low 90's during the day.} After our lil' campsite breakfast we loaded everything up, went on a longer hike and then began our drive back to Colorado Springs. We couldn't wait to be back home! Milkshakes, hamburgers and hot showers (well, lukewarm for lobster-skinned me) never were so wonderful before!

God's creation is so beautiful!

Miss sleepyhead.

Enjoying her new booklet

Our hike trail marker showing distance. We went to Bear Lake and then turned around and went to Nymph and Dream lakes. It was a "short" hike but it was uphill and at about 10,000 ft. and I'm not super-athletic. I'm glad I wasn't the one carrying Chloe and the backpack! Having to carry my tote and myself was plenty.

Random picture. :-)

At Nymph Lake. The waterlilies were so pretty!

Still at Nymph Lake. 

Stopping for a break.

Up we go!

The views were amazing!

Just us. :-D {Well, her fingers got in.}

Don't look down!

Pretty stream with a beaver dam.

A bridge enroute

I love pretty flowers!

Another bridge to cross. :-)

At Dream Lake. :-)

Lovely!

The trip back (downhill) went much faster. ;-P

Getting in a lil' nap. :-)

Looking forward to heading back!