My crazy morning..

I thought today was going to be great! Chloe woke up in a good mood, stayed in a good mood even while being in her car seat, and even took a nice long nap until 11. I knew I wanted to go grocery shopping today, which was the first time going at it alone since moving to South Dakota. I was really excited because I enjoy doing it alone and taking my time getting everything. I load Chloe up into her car seat after she finished eating and tried to get out the door as fast as possible, because you never know how long she will tolerate being in the car seat. It took about 20 minutes before I left. Chloe was still in a good mood so I thought this was going to be great! We got to the store and it had been raining all morning, so I pull the car seat cover over the top so Chloe wouldn't get wet, and I walked quickly to get inside the commissary. Once inside I got a cart and set her in it and quickly realized how much space I didn't have, that was okay because I had a plan! We started to walk around and get some stuff and after about 15 minutes she had reached her limit! Chloe started to fuss and scream, so I did the only thing I could think of and took her out of her seat. I tried to buckle her into the seat in the cart and she did okay, but we still don't have the sitting thing down yet so she would slowly fall to one side, so I ended up carrying her. This worked for a little while, but as the cart got heavier steering with one hand was just not cutting it. I had filled her seat with food so I couldn't put her back in it. I had to work with what I had and continued to carry her. I was dropping things left and right, she was fussing and fighting me, and I was trying to shorten my shopping list as fast as I could. I was so frustrated at this point and to top it off she starts spitting everything she ate up! At this point, I had to find a blanket to wipe the mess up. Everyone around me just looked on at me with annoyed faces and not one single person offered to help me out. Everyone was just annoyed that I would accidentally steer my cart into theirs or take too long getting something, etc etc. This was the worst shopping trip ever. Finally I was finished and I made my way up to the check out and the bagger offered to unload my cart for me, which was so nice of him! The cashier on the other hand, was quite the little ray of sunshine! She was super annoyed I didn't have my I.D. out and that I said I wanted plastic so when she confirmed that, I changed to paper then back to plastic because I didn't realize what I was saying. Anyways I payed then got to the car and Chloe did not want to go back in her seat so she's screaming while this teenage kid with my groceries is loading them into my car, he probably thought I torture my kid! I tipped him and he left and as I'm leaving the parking lot Chloe finally gave in and fell asleep, which gave me a nice quiet ride home. When I got home I realized I had to go pick something up from a lady in our ward, so I loaded Chloe back into her seat and she was so mad at this point! We drove to her house which is right down the street, I got out got this thing and I was literally gone for 2 minutes and Chloe was screaming with tears streaming down her face. I got home as fast as I could and it took a while to calm her down, but she gave in and fell asleep!

She stayed asleep for the rest of the day!

Chloe is 4 months old!

How on earth has it been 4 months?! It's not like i have felt like time has zoomed by, it definitely took its sweet time passing. Just looking back it seems like its flown by. Our beautiful baby girl is 4 months old today! She weighs around 13 lbs and already fits in 6 month footsie pj's. I love spending everyday with her, and watching her discover the world around her. Here are some fun facts about her!

• She loves talking, she copies noises I make and babbles on and on about everything. It makes our conversations interesting! Her recent (as of two nights ago) favorite time for talking is around 430am. I'll go in and put her back to sleep, but it's so cute watching her babble away.
• She is VERY clingy, I cant even put her down for nap time or she wakes up. The only time she willingly lets me put her down is bedtime. I really don't mind at all though, I love that all she wants is me holding her. It makes me feel good and extra loved. She doesn't like when other people hold her or talk to her, It's actually pretty funny.
• we gave our turtle away and put fish in the aquarium, Chloe loves watching the fish! This has become a lifesaver when it comes to her clingy-ness because she will happily sit in front of it for a couple minutes so i can grab something to eat or clean, you get the picture. We LOVE our fish tank!
• She likes singing with me, it mostly sounds like yelling but its quite adorable!
• She smiles anytime she looks at me or Brian and laughs quite often. One of her favorite things to make her laugh is when I sit her on my stomach and bounce her. She also enjoys smooches on her cheeks.
• We love Skyping with grandma and it happens to be the only time she will do tummy time.
• Speaking of, she hates tummy time. We have tried everything and nothing has worked except grandma but she still only tolerates about 5 minutes. 
• she doesn't roll over but she sits really good with my help. I figure she will figure the crawling thing out when she can sit on her own.
• She hates her car seat. We don't know why but out of nowhere she hated being in her car seat so we don't get out much because I don't want to wrestle her into the car seat. 
• We snuggle ALL THE TIME, and I couldn't ask for more! She is the light of my life and I love her so!

Reasons not to get a turtle.

Yes it is sad to say we had to give our turtle away for a better life. Don't get me wrong we took good care of her, but she just got too big and our tank was just too small. Sure turtles are so cute and look like fun at the pet store and they are. Eventually they get big and a 55 gallon tank just wont cut it any more. So here are my reasons not to get a turtle.

Reason 1. 12 inches is a lot bigger than you think. When you look at a ruler you think its not that big, but just wait until your turtle gets that big, you wont know what to do to give her enough room because lets face it a tank that would be big and wide enough is $500 plus. 

Reason 2. Plan on having a pond outside and doing the maintenance on it. Sure the tank will serve you well for 1-2 years, but once that turtle gets so big it can barely swim, its time to bust that pond out. Ponds can run anywhere from $100 and up. You might as well get a pool, and if you thought cleaning the tank was bad every two ish weeks think again! The pond is much bigger so obviously much more work.

Reason 3. Turtles are mean. Maybe not all turtles, but ours wasn't the nicest once she got big enough and realized she could defend herself. Her nails got so sharp and there was noway in Hades I was clipping/ trimming those suckers. She was always trying to snap at me, it was an all around no when it came to holding her.

Those are my 3 main reasons to not get a turtle. If you can handle caring and providing for one go for it!

Chloe's photoshoot

About 2 weeks ago we were able to have some pictures taken of my sweet babe. I was so excited because we weren't able to get newborn pictures done seeing as they cost an arm and a leg. When I found Bianca it was the perfect time! She had a great deal going and I had the money. She was so wonderful to work with and so patient with Chloe, and she captured some phenomenal pictures! Chloe even fell asleep and Bianca was able to get some pictures that make her look like a newborn! I am so impressed and am so excited to share them with you all! Please don't copy and save these images, if you want some let me know and I can get you some. These pictures pretty much prove that I have the most beautiful baby in the whole world! 

The little plants that grew

As some may know, I am a terrible gardener. When I say terrible I don't think that truly describes how horrible I am at it. I unfortunately did not get the green thumb from my mom, who can grow and keep anything alive. I am so bad I cant even keep a cactus alive. For the last two summers Brian has gone out and bought me seeds so I can grow flowers. Last summer I was doing pretty good, the seeds sprouted and I was so excited. I went to California for Kendael's graduation and Brian moved the sprout lings outside into a planter. When I got back a month later my flowers were blooming! 

They were so beautiful, until I started caring for them. They died a slow and miserable death. This summer Brian went out and bought me some more seeds, I was so excited to plant them! This time we just started in the planters. I knew they probably wouldn't bloom because we started them in June, I was okay with this. I have literally watered them like 10 times and they're doing great! Brian came to me a few days ago and told me that one of the plants had a flower blooming! I was so excited, I went and checked the next day and sure enough there was a flower! It hadn't bloomed yet, but it was a flower!

I felt so accomplished until it was ripped away from me! I went out two days later to check on it and it was gone! The strong winds from the night before took my flower away. I was very sad about this, but today I noticed little blooms all over! Hopefully I am able to see them bloom. With the weather being stupid and it supposedly is supposed to snow, I doubt they will make it.

Sorry the pictures are a little blurry

The dog that eats paint

Here's a short little story to brighten your Thursday morning. 

We have discovered many things that Molly enjoys dappling in. On occasion she'll eat a pacifier or two, the occasional dirty diaper, she'll even snatch our food when we turn away. The strangest thing to date was what I discovered this morning. I've been working on a painting for a friend over the last few days and this morning when I walked away I heard slurping coming from the other room. Curious I walked back in and see Molly fleeing the scene and a whole lot of paint missing. There were paint spots on the coffee table and I knew exactly what had happened. She enjoys eating acrylic paint! I don't know about you, but I do not think it even smells good and you would think that would be enough to deter her from sucking it down. Nothing stops this dog! When she wants it she will usually find a way to get it. I have learned my lesson, I need to paint at the table like a 5 year old. At least it'll keep Molly out of one more thing until she finds something else to eat.