A Day in the Life

Potty Trained!!!

2009-09-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

I can officially say it. I dont know how it happend or really what I did. She did it all on her own all at the great age of 21 months. She has really been for about 6 weeks but I had to let her go a few weeks with minimal accidents to truley say it.

I am really kind of sad it shows what a big girl she is now, I cant believe how fast time goes and how quick they grow up.

What makes Chloe... Chloe
She is very independant that is why she is already Potty trained!! Yeay
She needs to express herself and tell you whats going on therefore she has a huge vocabulary can say almost anything and also 3-4 word sentances
She never wants to sit still unless its sleeping she loves to run, jump and stomp
If you want to get a giggle play the "its my blanket game"
Her favorite item is the stinky purple monster (aka Blanket)
She loves people she gets so excited to see new people and meet them especially in resturants.
Everyone is her friend unless your uncle Micah then your scarey but even in time even he can be her friend. (Love ya Micah)
She loves to brush her teeth, she can brush her teeth all day long and it wont be enough.
Bath time is her swimming time, she practices her kicking and breath holding
Now can even put bowes in her hair
She hates her picture taken, she can be playing and happy, get out the camera and she frowns..go figure

What is Gluten anyway?

2009-06-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

So after a year and a half of trying to figure out what is wrong with me, we have finally figured out its Gluten. For those that have seen me I have a slightly abnormal babypooch that is really not comprised of much fat. Ok so I really look pregnant still and get many comments about it. The dr's said oh you just need to diet and exercise and the muscles will pull back together and you will be good as new. Well I did that got to prepregnancy weight and the belly is still there and not only that it is hard. This is not a normal post baby belly I knew something was not right. Even through the pregnancy I looked like I was carrying triplets.

Having gone from a personal trainer to looking 6 months pregnant all year long was so devistating. The only other answer I got from a dr. was surgery but that would mean no more kids because they would have to sew up my abdominal muscles. So I had just resinged myself to wearing a belly band and living with it until I was done having kids.

Then one day my wonderful husband came home from work talking about a conversation he had with another guy at work. He had said that guys wife had never had kids and looked about 5 months pregnant until they figured out it is a wheat.gluten allergy. That after she stopped eating food with gluten in it as soon as 3 weeks it had reduced in size dramaticlly.

So curious myself I googled gluten allergy and celiac disease I realized I had many of the symptoms. The only way to diagnose it is to either A. eat the gluten heavy for 6 weeks and feel miserable to have the dr's tell me to quit eating it. or B. stop eating it. I chose b. Since I have eliminated foods with gluten or wheat I feel a hundred times better. I never realized how bloated and uncomfortable I felt. I had gone almost 3 weeks until the other night I caved and had pizza. I have never felt more sick and uncomfortable and thus proving to myself it really is the gluten allergy. The good news is that my belly is softening up and slowly reducing in size who knew it was a food allergy all along! Yeay!!

Daddy can we keep her?

2009-04-08T15:57:00.000-07:00

A few days ago this little black lab showed up around the farm. It mostly followed these little rat dogs that live down the road until she found Chloe. This is the sweetest dog I have ever been around. All she wants to do is sit next to you and follow you when you go for a walk or ride the quad. She lovingly puts up with Chloe pulling her ears and riding her like a horse. She has two names puppy and horsie. I am still torn on a real name for her either lucy or bella. Any suggestions are welcomed.

The great thing about her is she sleeps by the door and at night we can hear her chasing off coyotes, javalina and best of all the 50 million cats that used to hang around here.

The other plus is she follows Chloe everywhere and if we cant find her we know to look for the dog and she isnt far from it.

My Big Girl!

2009-04-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

After many days of frustration of dealing with Chloe trying to climb in and out of her crib I decided to try to take the crib wall down and put on the toddler rail. Much to my surprise it was better than Christmas, this kid was so happy she was big and could get in and out by herself. If only I knew this was all it took to get her to play in her room I would have done it much sooner.

This is her very first nap in her big bed.
So far I have learned a few lessons in this big change
Lesson #1- do not attempt to go out of the house out of ear shot when you think your child is sleeping. I came to find her wide awake washing her favorite blanket in the toilet.
Lesson #2- Keep toilet lid closed
Lesson #3- Always remember she can walk out of her room when you think you are all by yourself she will creep up on you and scare you to death.
Lesson #4- Check in once in a while you may find her upside down hanging out of the bed while fast asleep.

He's Done!

2009-02-26T21:30:00.000-08:00

Seven years ago when I met Brett I never in my wildest dreams would have pictured him as a correctional officer. Well these days anything is possible. For the past 9 weeks he has been in Tucson in training meanwhile leaving me home on the farm during the week. It went by faster than I thought and it is so good to have him home again. Well somewhat, since he is on graveyards now I still freakout when he comes home in the morning and I think he is a burgler.

Chloe was so excited to see her Daddy across the room she kept yelling "daddy, daddy!!" It was so cute, and many came over afterward jealous that their kid didn't do it for them.

Brett is now very excited to be at home and have a stable job and be able to focus alot on the things he has been wanting to do. So far we already have planted a huge garden and its only one of the few he has planned on doing. He has also started helping out with the highschool tennis team in the afternoons.

Chloe is really starting to love it here, she loves being outside and we have to sit on the steps in the front yard and have lunch every day. She is also starting to get the hang of her little bikes and fourwheeler and can play for hours riding around the yard.

I on the other hand havent figured out what else to do besides cleaning and taking care of Chloe while trying to be quiet for Brett. I will hopefully get the hang of it and hopefully get to settle down in to a routine schedule now that we will be home more often.

Been a while.....

2009-01-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

Ok so it has been a while since I have gotten on and checked what everyone was up to. As well and say what I have been up to. Well things have been little hectic lately. During the week I am a single parent to the most curious and hyper 1 year old. This house we are in is very small so we get outside as much as possible. Brett has gotten a job with the department of corrections and is currently in training in Tucson. The training is 8 weeks and we are in week 4. So wahoo almost done!

Things have been good, Christmas was different Brett didnt get off in time for us to meet with his family for Christmas eve in Mesa so we stayed here in Duncan and visited with his Uncle and their family. It was nice to get to know some more of his side of the family. Since Brett has been gone so much it was nice just to hang out and play. It is very heart breaking to hear Chloe cry daddy and even sweeter when he comes home and she doesnt get far from him when he is here. She is such a Daddy's girl.

So some of you may ask, what do you do in Duncan??Well let me tell you the highlights.
7am. Wake up to see how cold it is. Feed Chloe, pick up toys, chase Chloe
8am. Dora the explorer, check to see if it has gotten any warmner, pick up toys, chase Chloe.
9am Chloe bath, take off a sweater warmed up a few degrees, pick up more toys, chase Chloe.
10am Chloe nap, breath relief, hit the treadmill, pick up toys, shower
1pm Chloe wakes up, pick up toys, feed lunch, pick up toys, chase Chloe
2pm. Finally warm enough to go outside, hop on 4wheeler feed chickens, chase chloe outside,
4pm, Another nap for chloe, pick up toys, check email, watch tv
6 pm, Chloe wakes up,feed dinner, pick up toys,chase chloe, another bath required for Chloe after her fall in chicken poo or mud or who knows what. pick up toys again
8 pm, Bedtime, chase chloe to get in pajamas, trip over toys who cares to pick them up anymore, wrestle chloe to get in pajamas, give up the bottoms are warm enough.
8:30 pm..silence, watch tv. give in to picking up the toys. Put on a sweater its getting cold.
2 am..chloe crying she's cold, should have finished putting on the warm pajamas. Warm her up put her back to bed.

So as you can tell I keep pretty busy but its colder than I am used to. And much quieter. I love the open space but in reality I really miss Mesa. But we are doing good, I am so glad Shaffen and Misty live in Thatcher for me to bug and hang out at their place. Without them I would have no sanity left. Plus Chloe would go crazy with no boys to chase around.

Yeay Snow. Chloe got to be in her first snow storm. She didnt like the cold wet part of it.

She hated Santa, couldnt blame her. Stood in line for an hour to be sat on some strange guys lap that says ho,ho ho..Yeah I would cry too.

She has picked up a bad habit of drinking and driving.
She got a motorized 4wheeler for her birthday. Her thumb isnt strong enough to make it go but loves to hang out on it.

Family Pictures

2008-12-01T16:11:00.000-08:00

So Chloe is a year old now and we just did some family pictures. Thank goodness my sister in law is learning photography so we can get some unique pictures done. These are just a few.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHLOE!

2008-11-24T16:02:00.000-08:00

Chloe had a blast with all the attention. We didnt throw a party. Just made a cupcake cake, Grandma and Grandpa Russell drove from Tucson to see her on this special day. Later that day she got to eat dinner and chase around her cousins Covin and Conner.

Her special one year old treats included a sip of pepsi. She made out like a bandit on toys her favorites of course were her little puppy from her grandparents and thee little doll from her cousins.

So much to say today!

2008-11-05T16:07:00.001-08:00

Ok so normally I have no idea what to put on this but a few things I wanted to mention.
1. CHLOE IS WALKING!! yes my little baby girl is already walking. She started taking steps at like 10 1/2 months and two weeks later she started walking. Now she is hardly even crawling anymore. Time flies so fast her birthday is quickly coming up on the 22nd. Man where has this year gone.

(of course she has no pants on in this picture)

2. HALLOWEEN- well Dad gave Chloe the best halloween gift ever. She got to wake up to a baby chick in her bed. Yes cant live on the farm without Chickens so we got 8 baby Chicks. Chloe quickly learned how to say chicky chicky (smartest little girl in the world)

Chloe got to be a skunk and go trick or treating in thatcher with her cousins the i ncredibles. We had a lot of fun seeing everyone in their costumes

Ok so here is Chloe with cousin Covin and his cousin Dex he is so cute with the cutest costume ever.

What have we been doing lately???

2008-11-05T15:43:00.000-08:00

Ok so the month of October just flew by. I think we maybe spent 5 total days of the month sleeping in our own bed, the rest of the time we spent at our families to work in Mesa. So it really stinks that Brett was sooooo close to getting the job up at the mine but then the price of copper crashed and they froze the hiring process. Well now its interesting because we are now finding lots of work to do in Mesa but now all our stuff is in Duncan and we have no work there. So its been pretty interesting. The good thing is we are living for free so we are still doing really good considering. He has another interview tomorrow so hopefully that will work out. Otherwise we will be keeping up this whole working in Mesa and living in Duncan thing for a while longer till we figure out what we are going to do. Good thing gas prices are going down.

I am actually starting to really like it here. The downside is I still dont know what it will be like when its just Chloe and Me. Everytime we have actually been here we have either had Brett's family up here or my family has come to visit. So to me it seems like a really social place to be, in reality its just luck that we have so much family to come and not let us be lonely.

So here is some pics of the family coming and visiting us here in Duncan

We went on a long ride out in New Mexico and babies were invited. Chloe got to ride with Dad most of the time and at least had the comfort of Cousin Tyson having to suffer through it too.

Chloe got to take a break and snack on some rocks

So cute we put them in the back seat of the ranger and they just zonked out so tired from the long day.

Getting to play in the cotton with Covin, Conner and Aunt Misty

Not even close to being settled in!

2008-10-20T18:07:00.000-07:00

Ok so we moved out of our house and to Duncan. Well the timing of all the events around it including a highschool reunion, fall break, and still having to make trips to mesa I still havent had a chance to get much set in a permanent place.

We decided not to go to California this year. I wanted to be by the beach so bad but was so exhausted from all the move and stress I just wanted to kick back a little. The great thing about that was most of Bretts family was down playing with us so it was a very fun week. Here is a few pics of what we have been up to. When I get a chance to upload some more pics I will go into more detail of the farm life.

Crazy times!

2008-09-30T21:53:00.000-07:00

Oh man, do you ever feel like one day you have all the blessings in the world and everything is going so great you couldnt be any happier and then the next day it all goes down the toilet and you think man just yesterday it was all fine and today the world is crashing down on me? A total rollercoaster ride. I feel like that about our move. Granted in a few weeks once I am all settled and on the farm I will be like "seriously, someone give me something to do!!" But right now I just feel exhausted and stressed out.

But a good thing I think we will finally be done moving this weekend. We have pretty much everything packed up, all that is really left is to clean. After I get off work on Thursday we will head down again with hopefully the last of it. Its just such a busy week. We have to be out of the house for the renters by the 10th. Well with a highschool reunion this weekend and a rental property to have to clean up and get rented out again and a trip to california this next weekend it just feels overwhelmingly crazy.

Plus poor Chloe, we left all of her toys in Duncan so she is being passed around, sleeping in an empty room in a playpen, and has no toys. I went and bought her a couple but nothing is familiar anymore to her so she is all nutso about the chaos. Wow!! I mean its just crazy, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we will be done soon.

(Disclaimer: Plus I cant even think straight enough to realize a runon sentance so sorry if it doesnt make for an easy read)

Moving!

2008-09-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

For some this may be some sad news and for some may be good news. For who ever reads this we are moving. We are packing everything out this weekend and heading to......DUNCAN..I know what a shocker, or where the heck is that. Well its where Brett grew up, we get to live on the farm for free, the houses are vacant and only really used as a vacation place so we are going. Its a good time in our life to go. Brett had the break in his job that would allow us to do so. We decided hey get to live on the farm and the simple life and save a ton of money. It all came up really fast and our house rented in less than 24 hours. So we have to be out by the 1st. We , well mostly I will still be in the valley working for a few weeks until Brett's job is all set up and then. Well we are outa here. Its crazy I'm the working one and Brett's Mr.Mom, kind of nice before its 100% me and Chloe 100% alone on the farm while Brett is at work. IT will be fun lots of adventure. Ill update and add pictures when I get a chance.

Thanks Covin!

2008-09-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

So I was rearranging stuff in our extra bedroom and found a few random toys that my nieces and nephews play with when they are here,and among them was a race car. Well Chloe found it instantly (because she is always underneath me doing whatever I'm doing)and played with it forever. It was the greatest little shiny thing that rolls across the floor. It really doesnt surprise me, since her cousins are mostly boys and all they have to play with is cars. So Chloe thanks cousin Covin for leaving it so she can play with it. She loves it!

My Little Thumbsucker

2008-09-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

I had put Chloe down for her afternoon nap and after aboout 20 mins of quiet.I peeked in to check on her and found her just sitting there sucking her thumb and holding her bear/blankie.

Ok and if any of you happen to notice I also see the 3 no no's in the picture. "No pillows, blankets, or toys should be allowed in a crib. What a terrible mother I am, well I have an excuse. Brett put them there! :), But the funny thing is she HAS to have her bumper pad in, if its off say I'm washing it, she will not go to sleep, or will she sleep if that purple blanket is not in there either. And the toys, well they keep her entertained till we go in there to get her.

Snot,,Snot, and More Snot!!

2008-08-27T01:37:00.000-07:00

So the month of August has really made me realize the ramifications of motherhood. I think there was actually one week that Chloe has felt good. Between teething and two colds man it has been a tough ride. So this picture cracks me up, the poor girl had so much snot we could not wipe it fast enough. But great news on the Chloe front she is finally eating and sleeping on her normal schedule. I on the otherhand now have who knows what thanks to my lovely little princess. I never thought of how hard it would be being sick and still having to take care of a 9 month old. Oh how I really cherised her naps today. Brett was so great to stay and work mostly from home today to help me out. He is such a sweetheart.

Someone has a case of the Monday's..its me I admit it!!

2008-08-18T20:52:00.000-07:00

You know its going to be a bad day when you wake up and look at the clock 15 mins before your alarm goes off. Well funny thing, I'm reading breaking dawn about vampires. So of course what do I dream about but Vampires. So I wake up freaking out with a bad dream 15 mins before my alarm was to go off at 4am. (I know its an early work day for me) I planned to even go running for 30 mins before I had to get ready. Well of course I snoozed back to sleep only to hear Chloe wake up. She never wakes up early. So finally get out of the house at 5:30. Get to work and actually work was great,nothing bad happend and no one died. Thats always a successful day in my book. But then my relief got there late so I didnt get to leave till 5:05 pm (10.5 hour day).

Since I didnt get to work out this morning I was going to hit the gym on my way home. The first route I picked to go which by now its 5:15 total rush hour traffic. Dead stop on the 10. So I change routes to head to the 202. Just as I get on the freeway. I realize I cant go very fast, look at the dashboard, big yellow light symbolizing flat tire. Dang it!!!! Rush hour on the freeway, with a new car I dont even think the spare tire area has ever even been opend, and how in the heck do I change this tire. But still being optomistic I pull over call DPS (I know the # by heart) to see if they can have a car sit behind me since its the front tire facing the roadway. I get the jack out and the tire ready to change this sucker my self. Proud that I can try, but scared to death I will be hit by a passing car, luckily they are only going like 10mph. Then the nicest creepiest guy in a minivan pulls over and changes it for me. I was kind of bummed I kind of wanted to see if I could do it myself but had to let the nice guy do it for me. So then it is now 6:00 an hour after I left work get on the road to try to come home on my little donut..and its still stop and go. So I'm kind of mad now I missed the window to go work out. If I did then I wouldnt get to see Chloe before she went to bed. So I sit through traffic mad, call my Mom to vent and my phone battery dies. So not only am I stuck in traffic, I have no one to talk to either. Ahh the luck, then I finally get home at 6:45 pm. Since I had already gotten on my workout clothes before leaving work. I got to hop on the treadmill for a total of 15 mins before Brett came home with Chloe. Let me tell you she isnt the best work out partner since she wants to get involved in everything and doesnt weigh enough to cause a good enough resistance to use as a weight.

So I have appointments at the gym scheduled for the rest of the week for daycare for Chloe so I have to go. Lets hope nothing else comes up like another cold or sickness keeping me from taking her there. Wish me luck! I swear the devil is trying everything to keep me fat. Its the only explanation I have :)

Love where I live

2008-08-16T12:16:00.000-07:00

Before Brett and I actually got married Brett and I had picked this place in Gilbert to build a house. It was a beautiful 6 bedroom house 2300 sq feet. We had even picked out the lot oh and was selling for only $200,000. Brett had his check book ready to get it started, but his Dad questioned if it was a good idea or not because I dont even think we had set a wedding date yet. So Brett decided to hold off on the purchase he had a townhouse that he was living in and so 4 months later we tied the knot and I moved into the townhouse.

Ok so after all his roomates moved out and it was just us, it still felt like a phrat house. It just didnt feel like home. So a month later we started looking for houses and this was right as the housing market started to boom so the same house we almost started to build was already over $300,000 and every house we made a bid on, we got out bid or they had already sold it. We could not belive that we would walk through a house and hours later it would already be off the market. It was so crazy. Well Brett would spend hours on mls looking for houses and came across two. One on power/mcdowell and the other one (we live in). They were the exact same layout, size, and price. Only difference was one had a pool and hot tub, the other didnt and faced a major roadway. But the crazy thing was I only saw a picture of this house, hadnt been inside, just saw the picture and knew it was where we were supposed to live. Brett felt the same way, I wanted to make a bid before we even walked through, I knew it was THE house. So first thing the next morning we walked through it, and granted its not my dream house but knew we had to have this house. Crazy as it sounds I knew it was right. So we sent an offer and they got 7 other offers at the same time. They chose to sell it to us because we needed the paved rv gate for Brett's trailer and the guy said he wanted someone who would appreciate it. Of all the reasons, not price negotiation but that. So we got the house. And have felt at home ever since.

I love the neighborhood and hearing the kids play in the street and I love how quiet it gets at night I just dont feel like I'm in the city at all. After Chloe was born we tried to sell it thinking maybe it was time to move on, and would be safer to not have to worry about fencing a pool. But when we had a one month old baby and real estate agents walking through, it became very difficult to keep the house clean and tidy and to even comprehend thinking about what would happen if we actually sold it. We almost did, but the people thought the neighborhood was too noisey. What?? When was that?? I missed that party. Anyway, I'm so glad we didn't, I would rather put a fence around the pool then move, I just feel like its where we are supposed to be right now. Plus Brett takes such good care of it its looking really cute. Who knows how good our backyard will look once we get the pool guard up. :( But I'd rather have Chloe then a perfect back yard.

Small town summer of fun!!

2008-08-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

We have had quite the fun this summer with our little "bug" aka Chloe or Clovis. We started off the month of July with many swims in the pool and a trip to Duncan for the 4th of July. We even snuck in a trip up the mountain and splashed in the stream at wet canyon and climbed some trees.
Chloe even got to go to the zoo in 114 degree heat with her cousins Covin and Conner and cooled off in the little water area.It may have been a hot day and hardly any animals were out, it was still fun to get to get out for the day.

Later in the month we got to take another trip back to Thatcher again to celebrate pioneer day as well as Brett and Micah getting roped into reroofing my Dad's house.
To end our summer of small town fun we went to Duncan yet again for Brett's high school reunion. Chloe had quite the experience getting to pet a chicken, letting a newborn calf suck on her toe and even got to take a driving lesson on a back road. The Best part of being up there was getting to see a good old fashion thunderstorm. (Though I was disappointed to not get to see anything get hit by lighting which I have been told happens a lot.)

So even though we didnt get to go on an elaborate vacation this summer all the mini trips we have taken has been quite fulfilling. To be honest I am starting to love the trips to Duncan. Its like a little cabin in the middle of farmfields.

So yeay me I did another post!!

Little Fish

2008-06-25T09:47:00.001-07:00

She Loves the water, I swear she thinks she can swim she does whatever she can to try to take off and go where she wants to go. I cant wait to get her in some infant swim classes so I know what to do with her. We had a MacLay family swim party and Chloe had to be tuff and wear a tattoo..silly girl :)

Chloe's First Baseball Game

2008-06-25T09:40:00.001-07:00

On Saturday June 14th We took Chloe to her first Major League Baseball game. She was also prepared it being flag day and all.
She was terribly exhausted and teething but such a good sport. Roger Clyne and the peacemakers played afterwards and she let us know its not her type of music by putting both hands over her ears and crying.

Our little ham!

2008-06-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

I am way behind on keeping up with this blog so I am finally doing an update. Well Chloe is now 7 months old. Crazy how fast this time is going. I cant belive she is crawling, sitting, standing and now has 2.5 teeth. She is seriously the funniest social little butterfly. We get harassed anytime we go to the store because she smiles at anyone who walks by to get them to give her attention. She will stare with a big smile until they look her way, then the smile gets even bigger when they actually look at her.

Just recently we took her pictures out in the grass at the park and we didnt have to do anything to get her to smile. We just pointed the camera at her and she just posed perfect. She is such a ham and always looking for the attention. How great is teenage life going to be with such an attention hog....hmmm.,.

Oh by the way the biggest recent milestone for Chloe is she said "da da" yesterday. ok so she doesnt know what it means but will repeat it anytime we say it. So exciting how this little mind works. The great thing about her learning dada first is I can always say oh look Brett she wants you to hold her, or change her diaper. Its working fabulous!

Chloe's Blessing

2008-02-15T11:36:00.001-08:00

It was alot of fun having so much
family here on Chloe's Special Day!

She became quite the show off
when put next to her 2 MacLay cousins.

Welcome Chloe!

2008-02-14T08:26:00.000-08:00

Ok so I know this is 3 months over due. I still wanted to welcome Our little wonderful girl.

Chloe Grace MacLay born on Thanksgiving at 12:12 p.m.

Our Last Hoorah!!

2007-10-18T14:57:00.000-07:00

Ocean Side California!
For a last fun adventure at 33 weeks pregnant we decided to crash my In-Laws time share. I never realized sitting in the car for 6 hours could get so uncomfortable. Also if they tell you pregnant skin burns easy BELIEVE THEM its true.

Our first day on the beach I found that out very quickly. While Brett built his magnificant sand castle I fell asleep and got burned really bad.

There was also a tragic story to our adventure. While I was sleeping and Brett doing his sandcastle two jet skiers hit head on and one went under to never be found again. Neither of them were wearing life vests, the sad thing was it happend right in front of where we were sitting but neither of us saw it happen.

It was fun to get away one last time before we are home bound for a few months. Chloe better love the beach I want to go all the time. I could live there and be a beach bum!

How fast time flies

2007-09-28T16:05:00.001-07:00

I just cant believe it is the end of September already. Where did the last year go. I know last year we were busy with traveling and working like crazy. This year has flown and I cant even remember half of it. I can only imagine now next year is going to be.