A Trip to the Zoo

This past Saturday we took Chloe to the zoo for the very first time. She loves animals, so we figured she would like the zoo and we were right. At first she got scared every time an animal would move or jump towards us, but she got used to it and had a great time! We were lucky enough to have my mom, dad and grandma join us.

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes

Well, if you couldn't already tell, Chloe is going to be a girly-girl. She loves shoes and purses and every time she walks into our room she heads straight for the closet and starts to play with our shoes. She has recently been trying to put them on and walk around in them. It only took her a few tries before she got it-- and that was in my heals!

Besides just loving to play with the shoes, she also knows which shoes belong to who. The other day we were outside talking to our neighbors and Chloe comes out of the garage with a pair of my shoes and said, "Mama." Then she went back into the garage and came back out with another pair of shoes that belonged to Aaron and said, "Dada." It kills us how smart she is.

On top of just loving shoes she also loves purses. She has a few of her own that she likes to sling over her arm and she also tries to make anything else that has a handle into a purse (i.e. camera bags and grocery bags). She also has found out that I have a stash of purses in our closet and is constantly wanting me to get them out for her.

School's Out For Summer!

Today is the first day of my summer break and I am loving it! I am totally looking forward to staying home with Chloe and playing with her all day long. At first, I thought we didn't have much planned for the summer, but as I am looking at the weekends, they are quickly filling up.

What I am not looking forward to is the end of summer because once again, I will be moving schools and this time, I am changing a lot more than just classrooms. For the past 5 years (this last year, part time) I have been teaching students with Autism in grades first through sixth. It has been a challenge, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I loved teaching those students and I have learned so much from them.


However, in order to stay home with Chloe as much as possible, I only want to continue teaching part time. So, in order to accommodate my request, next year my district is moving me to a small group special education unit p.m. Kindergarten at Lindon Elementary. This means that I will not only have students with Autism, but any number of challenges. It will be an adventure and right now I am pretty much freaked out because I have no idea what exactly I will be doing, but I guess I have all summer and next year, which will hopefully be my last year working, to figure it out. Wish me luck!

Mothers Day

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.

~Washington Irving

Aaron and his Mom

Me and my Mom
Chloe and her Mom
Grandma, Mom, Me, and Chloe

This Mother's Day was wonderful. On Saturday, Aaron cooked his Mom (and Dad) and I a delicious dinner with all the fixings and on Sunday, all the men in my family cooked the women breakfast for dinner. Aaron also got me a beautiful pot of flowers to put on our front porch, but the gift doesn't stop there...he said he will take care of it and keep it alive for me! Ahh, the gift that keeps on giving.

I am so grateful for my mother and for my mother-in-law. They are both such amazing women and if I am only half the mother that they are then I would call my mothering a success. So, thank you Mom and Barbara Ann...I love you both!

15 Months Old

Well, Chloe just had her 15 month check up and I thought it would be fun to update everyone, plus I know I will forget all of this when she gets older so I figured I better write it down somewhere. Here we go...

Weight: 18.6 lbs ( yeah, it's in the 1st percentile, but at least she's growing!)

Height: 29 3/4 inches

Molar count: 4

Sleeping: She goes down every night without crying and the same goes for her nap. I ask her if she wants to take a nap and she shakes her head yes...or ignores me if she doesn't want one.

Eating: She is a very picky eater and doesn't eat much, but she does love fruit!

Favorite things to do: Pull out all her clothes from her dresser and make a big pile then put them all away again, go to the park and go down the slide, pick up rocks from the driveway, and play with her babies and stuffed animals.

Words she says/signs: Mama, Dada, Grandma, Grandpa, snack, shoes, ball, dog, more, cheese, juice, milk, all done, up, food, cracker, fish, banana, girl, light and cold.

Animal sounds she makes: cat, dog, horse, monkey, snake and duck.

What she loves: Her Grandparents, animals and balls.

What I love about her: Everything! She is such a happy baby and I love watching her grow everyday. I feel so blessed that she is ours.

Weekend in Moab

This past weekend we took a trip down to Moab to do some Jeepin'. We usually just go with Aaron's parents, but this time Aaron's sister and her family came too. They recently bought a Jeep and so now we had three Jeeps to crawl around the rocks in. The weather was beautiful, even when it rained, and we all had a great time. We even took Chloe on her first "real" Jeep ride. Somehow, she slept through most of it and was happy as a clam when she woke up.

Chloe had a good time playing outside in the dirt and I eventually had to give up and just let her get filthy. She spent most of her time picking up rocks and giving them to Grandpa and the rest of the time looking for stray dogs and cats...wondering around saying "da" and "meow." She loves animals right now and makes the cutest animal sounds. Our favorite is her tiny little "meow," it just melts your heart.

The trip was going off without a hitch until the guys decided to do one last trail before we left. It was called Metal Masher and it lived up to its name...Aaron broke one of his rear control arm brackets. It's pretty much what holds the axle under the jeep, so yeah, it's pretty important. I guess the guys were having a little too much fun! Aaron was able to drive it slowly back to camp but we couldn't drive it home in that condition. So, our vacation got extended one extra day and early Monday morning we took it in to a 4x4 shop and got it re-welded. Here's a picture of the carnage (as Aaron calls it)...

Our New Home

OK, so we finally got a chance to snap a few shots of our new home. We're not quite done decorating...the office is filled with boxes and the walls in Chloe's room are bare, but we're getting there. We'll hopefully have a few pictures of the outside soon...the sprinklers were just installed and the grass should be going in any day now.

Anyways, the place is 1,615 square feet and has three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. We've been very pleased with everything so far. Thanks again to everyone who helped us move in.

Family Home Evening

For FHE tonight, we decided to have a picnic dinner at a local park. The weather has finally turned nice and we were not about to pass up a night like tonight by sitting inside.
After dinner, we walked around and played at the park. Chloe is such a little explorer. She wants to go everywhere...especially where she knows she is not supposed to go. Her defiant personality has started showing a lot more lately and I think we are going to have our hands full when she gets older.

April Showers....

We all know the saying "April showers bring May flowers" well, I don't think they were talking about snow showers. The only thing this type of shower will bring in May is frozen flowers. This picture is from our front door and it is still snowing. Ahhh... don't you just love Utah weather, especially when you are on spring break!

However, on a positive note, Chloe has learned a new word. She kept looking out the window and pointing at the snow, so I would tell her "thats snow." Well, when she woke up from her nap earlier she pointed out the window and said "no" as in "snow." She is a quick learner.

Happy Easter

This year we celebrated Easter on two days. On Saturday we went over to my mom's house for an egg hunt with Chloe's cousin Kadence. It was so fun to see how excited Chloe got when she found the candy. All she wanted to do was hold as many pieces in her hands as she possibly could. When I could convince her to put the candy in her basket so she could get more, she would put them in, pick up the new piece, and then promptly pick up all the rest of her candy.

Chloe also learned how to open up the candy. I turned away for a second and the next thing I know she has a chocolate bunny in her hand. This girl loves chocolate- she must be related to her mother!

After the egg hunt we went outside to play. Kadence has a toy mustang and Chloe had a ball watching Kadence drive it around. She kept chasing after it and laughing. We tried to put her in but she wanted nothing to do with it.

Saturday evening, Aaron's parents came over to see Chloe for Easter, but we were having so much fun that we forgot to take pictures. They gave Chloe some delicious suckers and it was her first taste of one. At first she tried to bite it but then she got the hang of it and loved it.

On Sunday we had our own egg hunt at home and Chloe did a much better job this time around. We had all the candy in plastic eggs so she didn't realize what was in them. Once she had put them all in her basket, I opened one up to show her and that was the end of the egg hunt. She tried to open up as many as she could and stuff the candy in her mouth.

We spent the rest of the day at my mom's house having dinner and playing games. It was a wonderful Easter and I am so glad to have my family close so that I can spend time with them. I am also so grateful for the true meaning of Easter and for Christ's resurrection.