{MOO} Neighbors

Chloe loves animals. She will make animal sounds for a horse, a cow, a bunny, a fish, a kitty and a dog. Our house is next to a pasture where our neighbor keeps his cows. Chloe has fallen in love with the cows. She stands on the deck and talks to them, but her favorite thing to do is look at them right next to the fence. Last night, Brandon cut some grass for us to feed to the bull. Chloe was in heaven!

Our {Little Lady}

Chloe is such a fun little girl. I don't think that I ever imagined the joy she would bring into our lives. She has the most darling little personality; she keeps us laughing and on our toes.

Here are a few fun things she has been doing lately:

{Walking!!!}

Chloe started really walking about three weeks ago. She just buzzes around everywhere now. It's amazing how fast she has learned to walk! When Chloe was learning to walk, she would take a few steps, laugh and clap for herself. So funny! She loves to carry around her baby, the laundry basket, and Brandon's shoes. When she is trying to walk faster, she ends up on her tip-toes. She's officially a walker!

{Oodles of Noodles}

Chloe is a pretty picky little eater. She loves noodles, beans and go-gurts, as long as I feed them to her outside! She likes to feed herself with a little fork and spoon, and usually, her plate ends up completely upside down by the time the meal is over. If she needs to take a drink while eating, she spits out everything in her mouth before taking a sip of her drink. She's a mess!

{T-R-O-U-B-L-E}

Chloe has been getting into everything! A few days ago, I found her with toilet paper strung from the bathroom to her bedroom.

Chloe loves showers and baths. She frequently has a shower in the morning and a bath before she goes to bed. Her favorite thing to do is turn on the shower while I am running her bath water!

Chloe jabbers all day. She is always yelling, "Ya, ya, ya!" If she is looking for me in the house, she walks around saying, "Mom! Mom! Mom!" Whenever she sees Brandon, she whispers, "Dada" or says, "Hi, Dad!"

Funny Story: Chopper ran away a few days ago, and I was calling his name throughout the house and outside. Chloe was following me around yelling for Chopper and patting on her legs and tummy (you know, the "come here dog" pat). I was so mad at Chopper, but when I saw how much Chloe loves him I knew that we had to find him! He ended up just being across the street - dumb dog!

{Brave Bug}

Chloe is not afraid of anything! She likes to jump to us from the countertops, the top of the fridge, the stairs, you name it. Brandon handed her a potato bug, and she just played with it. Our little niece and nephew, Mylee and Tyson, have a hampster that Chloe loves; she almost squished it when she was holding it! We saw a HUGE dog earlier this week, and Chloe just walked up and started petting it. Chloe loves playing with her Daddy! He encourages her to be super brave!

Chloe is just an absolute pleasure. We love her SO much!

Birthday & Baseball {Plus, Other Exciting Stuff}

Don't ask me where the last two months have gone. It has been crazy at our house. I've been absolutely swamped at work; seriously stressed out about a few very challenging contracts I've been negotiating. Brandon has jumped into all things spring and summer - working in the yard, golf, softball, golf, planting trees, golf. Little Chloe is growing up too fast! She is such a hoot - I only thought she was a wild child before...

Here are a few of the highlights:

{State Baseball Tournament}

Eric's Snow Canyon High School baseball team made it to the state tournament this year. We were able to head down to Salt Lake for a couple of the games. Eric is a truly excellent baseball player, and it has been so exciting to watch him grow into such a talented guy. It was fun to have my family stay with us for a few days while SCHS advanced through the tournament. The only pictures I was able to snap before my camera battery died are of Chloe playing on the playground at the UVU field. She loves the slides!

{Brandon's Birthday}

Brandon turned 27 on May 27th, which was the day of Eric's high school graduation. As you can imagine, Brandon was thrilled to spend the day driving to St. George (we left at the crack of dawn, which was perhaps a birthday miracle), sitting through Eric's graduation ceremony in a very hot, very crowded Dixie Center, and tending Chloe while I ran to help with Grad Night. What can I say, he's a trooper. I'm so lucky to be married to such a wonderful guy! Brandon is the best husband and daddy. I can't imagine my life without him.

(Don't mind Brandon's hat hair, we'd just arrived in St. George after a VERY long drive. Chloe had enjoyed a little "feast" of Oreos; I think she's in a sugar coma at this point.)

{Eric's Graduation}

I can't believe Eric has graduated; he's supposed to just be my tiny brother who makes me read Junie B. Jones books to him every night. He's a really great kid. I'm so proud of him.

Chloe was pretty much crazy by the time we made it to the graduation ceremony. Brandon was out in the hall with her for the bulk of the time.

I made a few things for Eric's graduation: a rag quilt (which I only have a picture of the quilt all wrapped up), a candy bar lei, and a banner. Whew!

{Swim Baby}

While we were in St. George for graduation, Chloe experienced her first swim. She LOVES it! She loved floating in her little tube, splashing, and jumping off of the side. She's going to be our little water lover for sure!

Where the {WILD} Things Are

Our Chloe turned NINE months old and transformed into one WILD little lady! She is busy, busy, busy! She is crawling around like crazy. If we try to chase after her, she kicks it into high gear and just giggles. Chloe is climbing up on everything! She can stand on our mantle and open all of our cupboards. Her darling little smile features SEVEN sharp little teeth; she has been quite the biter for the past couple of days. Oh, how we love our wild little girl, so much!

Nine months has been a difficult milestone for me. It is starting to feel like my tiny baby days with Chloe are coming to an end. Chloe wants to feed herself, she rips her cute headbands off, she just has a mind of her own. She has been a little bundle of joy and life for longer than I was pregnant. I love watching her grown and learn so many new things, but I just simply cannot believe how quickly the time has flown by.

At her nine month doctor visit she weighed 19 pounds 6 ounces (50%) and was 29 inches (97%!!!) tall. Our great PA recommended feeding her whatever we eat; it's been a struggle. She went through a little phase where she would just pull all of her food out of her mouth, which caused her to gag and barf all over. Pleasant, right? I'm glad (fingers crossed:)!) that phase has passed. She has really liked Penne Noodles with Alfredo Sauce, grilled chicken and beans (weird, right?).

Chloe has the most happy, funny little personality. She is constantly giggling and smiling. She likes to "BONK" heads with everyone, and sometimes with the treadmill or the wall. She adores her Chopper dog and likes to go on long walks (soon to be jogs/runs ;)! ) in the jogging stroller. Chloe is getting a little mop of stick straight, light brown hair. It fits right in with her WILD side! I am just feeling so fortunate to be her mother! She is truly such a joy! We just love our crazy baby girl!

Hippity {Hoppity}

Our Easter Celebrations this year were spread across two weekends. We spent the weekend before Easter in St. George with my family, and we spent Easter weekend in Ogden with Brandon's family.

{Easter} in St. George

There is something about springtime in St. George that makes me miss living there SO much, too much really. It's warm and filled with all the wonderfulness of spring, you know, "popcorn popping on the apricot trees," tulips, and sunshine on your face. Brandon planned a boys-only-golf-trip in St. George, and Chloe and I tagged along. We pulled into town and dropped Brandon off at the Holiday Inn to enjoy a weekend full of golf. Chloe and I spent Friday and Saturday watching Eric play baseball and shopping with my mom and Liz. Ethan and Brooke blessed Maddie in my parents' ward on Sunday. It was such a nice weekend!

Chloe love, love, loves my mom; I can't blame her, my mom is a great lady! She had a blast at Grandma Kris and Grandpa Kim's house. My parents gave her a cute little Easter basket. Chloe thought it was just wonderful. She is such a hoot! I just love her little personality.

Funny Story: Every Easter we take a family photo on the front steps at my parents'. Chloe thought it was so funny to reach down and pull Grandpa's hair. The picture below caught her in action:

{Easter} at Home

Having General Conference fall on Easter was a mixed blessing for me. I love listening to Conference; it always seems to be just the spiritual boost that I need. However, I enjoy Easter Dresses! This year on Easter, we spent the day at our house and enjoyed a delicious Easter dinner at Grandma Verna's.

Chloe loved her gifts from the Easter Bunny. She was lucky to receive a Little Tikes Castle that has a super fast, super fun slide. She zips down it all by herself; we have a little dare devil on our hands. Chloe likes the farm animals that the Easter bunny delivered; she is REALLY into horses right now. (Actually, all animals make the horse sound...cows, dogs, birds. We're working on expanding her animal sounds.) Her favorite part of her goods from the Easter Bunny were the Yogurt Bites, Rice Puffs, and Apple Juice! Chloe had a blast her first Easter!

{8} is Great!

Being EIGHT months old is fabulous!

Chloe is so stinking cute!

Chloe has learned how to crawl super fast, and she can get into everything! She is constantly pulling herself up to stand and shuffling around all of our furniture.

She gives huge kisses to everyone, including her Sally Rowe doll and her reflection in the mirror.

Chloe took her new car to Grandma and Grandpa's house and rode it outside.

She LOVES her car! Chloe puts her feet up on the car and lets her daddy push her around WAY too fast!

Chloe's hair is long enough for a few curlers, but she is much too busy to smile for a picture.

She is all ready for warmer weather, and she has loved wearing her cute sunglasses out on walks in the stroller.

We just love our little Chloe girl! She is such a darling baby!

{Shopping} in the City

By some miracle, I convinced Brandon to take me shopping at the outlets in Park City today! I told him that we should drive up to the Ashworth outlet to get him some new golf apparel for his upcoming golf trips. When we arrived at the outlets, we discovered that the Ashworth store is GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!!! There was seriously one rack of men's golf shirts. Brandon found a few (SEVEN!!) shirts that he thought would work for him. I love, love, love the Banana Republic outlet. I could have bought one of everything, but I refrained. Chloe was a trooper (Doesn't she look THRILLED in the picture above?!). She thought the falling snow was pretty cool stuff.

We stopped at Taggerts for a late lunch. It's one of my favorites. The serve their sandwiches on homemade pitas that are to die for! Chloe is so funny; when we go out to eat now, she sits in a high chair and fake laughs the whole time. What a hoot!

It was a GREAT day! It was the break from our normal routine that I needed; plus, I will NEVER pass on a shopping trip :)!

It's a {LOVE} Thing!

We had a very HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! We shared all of our love with our tiny miss Chloe and our family.

Chloe received some BEAUTIFUL tulips from her Daddy! She just loves them; she couldn't even take her eyes off of them long enough for me to snap a quick picture.

I made one of these - a Valentine Scalloped Banner

And we made some Valentines

And we made LOTS of these

We packaged them with love

Wrapped everything up and sealed with a kiss :)!

Chloe also received a couple of cute outfits from her Grandmas. This one is from Grandma Kris. We love our little Chloe bug!

Growing Girl

Chloe visited the doctor for her six month well baby check. This visit her immunizations were particularly painful; she was so sad! It just breaks my heart to see her cry SO HARD when she gets her shots. She is our growing girl. I swear that she has just grown overnight. Here are her 6.5 month stats:

Weight: 17 lbs - 75%
Height: 26 inches- 80%
Head: 44 cm - 80%


Chloe has the cutest little personality. Here are a few things that she is doing now:

**She loves to play with her little farm and loves animal noises
**She will communicate with us in a series of cute little squeaks
**She is very smiley and has the cutest little giggles
**She is GREAT at sitting up
**She is ready to be able to move around; crawl or walk whatever comes first
**She really likes to stand and jump
**She loves the Little Einsteins
**She gives the best slobbery kisses
**She is the best eater, but her favorite food is applesauce
**When she is eating she drops all of her Bitter Biscuits to Chopper and watches him eat them

Chloe officially moved to her crib! (I know that I am terrible for keeping her in my room for so long! I cried the first night she slept in her crib!) The driving force behind the move to the crib was that she learned to do this:

I can't believe how the first six months of little Chloe's life have just flown by. We LOVE her SO MUCH!

We welcomed this cute little babe to the world on Sunday, January 24th. My brother, Ethan, and his wife, Brooke, added sweet Maddie Nicole to their family after a very LONG labor. She has a TON of dark hair, way more than Chloe has now! We just love her, and we are so happy for them!

Go Jazz!

Don't mind Chloe's drool, she is just excited about watching the Jazz with her dad! She especially loved it when he woke her up because he was running around the basement after Gaines drained the last second three (He was so excited; he just simply couldn't contain himself!).

Our little Chloe is six months going on nine months. She has decided that it is time to stand. She's so fun!

Our Girl and Her Dog

Chloe has fallen in love with our Chopper. He is just her little best friend. She grabs his ears and pets his fur. Chloe is just facinated with him. She squeaks at him and giggles at him; they must communicate in their own language. They're sure cute together...well, Chloe is sure cute :)!

Christmas Past

We enjoyed a truly WONDERFUL Christmas! It was so fun to watch little Chloe enjoy the whirlwind of Christmas that circled around her. Here are a few of our highlights:

Christmas Sunday

Brandon and Chloe dressed in their best for the Sunday prior to Christmas. I had to sing in Sacrament Meeting with a group of ladies, and of course, it was Chloe's squirmiest Sacrament Meeting yet! Brandon and I took turns standing in the back with her, but at least she looked darling: :)!


We attempted to snag a few shots of Chloe in her Christmas dress, but she was way too interested in her fancy dress and the ornaments on the tree.



Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve with Brandon's family at Grandma Verna's. Brandon's sweet grandma goes to so much work to make Christmas Eve enjoyable and memorable for everyone. She prepares a wonderful meal, complete with her to die for homemade rolls, and she has a gift for every single person.


Chloe was able to meet Santa Clause for the first time at Grandma Verna's. She thought he was quite great; she especially loved his beard.


Chloe loved her "Snuggletime" bear that Santa delivered. She thinks it is hilarious.


After we wrapped up the festivities at Grandma Verna's, we headed home to open our special Christmas PJ's, read the Christmas Story, and head to bed. (Luckily, Brandon figured out the timer on our new camera, and we were able to snap this lovely PJ picture.)



Christmas Morning

Chloe must have been exceptionally good because Santa sure spoiled her. She was so funny on Christmas morning. She giggled at the portable DVD player that Santa delivered, and she was mesmorized by all of the wrapping paper. She is such a funny little girl.


After opening presents at our house, we headed to Brandon's parents for breakfast and more presents. Chloe received a "Jumperoo" that has become one of her favorite toys. It has taught her that she should just stand up and jump all of the time. She's a pretty intense jumper now :).


Christmas Day

My parents, Liz and Eric made the long drive from St. George to Ogden on Christmas Day. We enjoyed Christmas Dinner at our house with my family. Chloe loved her "Sally Rowe" doll and her fun music toy from Grandma and Grandpa Carter.


Chloe had her own little girlie tree in her room this year. She thought the ornaments were so fun. They were the perfect size for her tiny hands to throw across the room.


We hope that you all enjoyed the holidays. We certainly had a very special Christmas and New Years with our tiny Miss Chloe!