The Frisby Family

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T14:38:00.000-08:00

Chloe wore her cute festive Valentine's outfit today. She's a little young to be catching herself someone to be her Valentine, so I suppose Daddy and I will volunteer for the position. We're pretty okay with that.

For some reason, she's not huge on dishing out the smiles on camera lately. But she is big on sticking her hands as far in her mouth as she can for many a photo.I bought her these cute shoes a long time ago and thought they'd be about right for Valentine's Day, but they are still huge on her. Oh well. :)Chloe's friend Norah stopped by for awhile today and they had a good time together (I think...). Chloe enjoyed trying out Norah's toys, and Norah mostly just stared at Chloe. They kept sort of giving each other the stare-down...a little unsure still of one another, I guess. It was pretty cute.
Synchronized arm movements in this one:
This is about when Chloe started trying to suck on Norah's finger, so this is where the photo shoot ended.Cut little pals. Too bad we're moving--they are only 6 weeks apart and could've become best friends! I guess we can milk it for all it's worth til then...

From the past few days...

2012-02-13T16:14:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of cute cell phone pictures from the past few days. I know they are grainy and not nearly as good as the real camera photos, but sometimes you gotta catch things as they happen.

Working on standing up.

Working on sitting.

Zonked out at 3:30am...that is, until I try to lay her down.

Fell asleep in her high chair.

Also, here are a couple of videos--mostly for the entertainment of the grandmas and aunts, but you are welcome to view Chloe's awesomeness even if you aren't one those people. :)

Don't forget to read the post just below this one. It's new, too. :)

4 Months Old (that's 1/3 of a year!)

2012-02-13T15:20:00.000-08:00

Chloe's growing up so fast!! She's also getting funner by the second.

She can grab toys, she can sit for short periods of time, she sucks her thumb, she talks ALL THE TIME, she giggles, and she blows raspberries. She's getting close to rolling over, and she's working on growing some hair (again...she had so much when she was born compared to now!) :( As I mentioned in my last post, she's a whole 18 lbs now--that's 10 lbs more than when she was born!!! Her carseat is getting super-heavy these days.

Here is the monthly line-up of her Watch-Me-Grow photos:

In her diaper:

Dressed:

Close-ups:

Love her.

Huge Post (grab some popcorn...it'll take awhile.)

2012-02-10T21:15:00.000-08:00

First, a few random pictures from this week:

She was in this outfit for about 20 minutes before we had a little...ahem...bathroom incident.

You'd never guess I just finished cleaning up a poopy diaper, layers of poopy baby clothes, followed by a spit up explosion all over me and her and the floor. Don't let that innocent face fool you...

Now, onto what's new:

I took Chloe for her 4 month appointment today. She technically doesn't turn 4 months until next week, but close enough.

Getting ready to go to the doctor:

All ready!!

She weighed exactly 18 lbs. (99th percentile) and was 26.25 inches (98th percentile). The doctor did a projected height for Chloe and it put her at an adult height of 5' 9". That doesn't seem so bad to me...I'm 5'8", so she comes honestly by it even if Wes wasn't as tall as he is.

The doctor says she looks great. In his words, "Chloe is one of my healthiest patients." Doesn't get better than that, right??! (Knock on wood...) He told me I could start solid foods when I want, or I can hold off until around 6 months if I'd like (I'd like). He actually said that technically you can go as late as 9 months without introducing solids...but that seems a tad extreme. We'll see. I'm sure at some point she'll want to try people food before then.

Chloe is getting so good at 1) sitting (with support), 2) bouncing in her bouncer and bearing weight on her legs, 3) talking, 4) sucking her thumb, 5) reaching for things (toys, Mommy's mouth, blankets, etc.) 6) grabbing her feet, 7) being awesome--she's always been good at that one, though. :)

She got her second set of vaccinations (3 shots, 1 oral vaccine). She cried a horrible cry that totally took her breath away. It was so sad! I was hoping to avoid any blame from her by not being in her view when the shots took place, but they made me hold her hands away so she wouldn't grab at the syringes. Her poor little eyes looked up at me like I had totally betrayed her. Luckily, a nursing session and a couple of tickles later, and she was back to her happy (if a little more drowsy and temperamental) self.

For the record, yes that waterspot above her head in that photo is her tears. :(

I swung by Costco on my way home to pick up a few things (and of course, a Diet Coke from the snack bar). I put Chloe's carseat down into her stroller to go inside because I thought she'd be more comfortable in it than in the bumpy cart when she wasn't feeling so great. No good deed goes unpunished, right?

I had put my coat and the diaper bag over the handle of the stroller, and my drink in the cup holder of the stroller. When I took her carseat back out of the stroller to load her into the car, I forgot to compensate for the weight of the coat and diaper bag over the handle, and so the stroller tipped over. With my Diet Coke. It landed (of course) all over my coat. Oh, did I mention it had snowed for the first time in weeks--it had to be today--and that the parking lot was also gross and slushy? So my coat was dirty-slushy (and literally had the entire contents of my Coke in the hood), the diaper bag was slushy, the stroller was slushy. Awesome. Oh well.

After that I went to Goodwill where I ran across a few good finds. Nothing like scoring some gems at the thrift store! I got this oh-so-cute blanket. It's the sort of blanket you would hang on the wall of a nursery behind a crib or in a playroom. It's kind of stiff--not really for cuddling under, but I thought the graphics on it were adorable so I had to get it! It will either go in a playroom once we are in Albuquerque, or maybe I'll even save it for a baby boy room someday or a gift for someone. It was just too cute to pass up.

I also scored these great Tupperware trays. They don't have a scratch on them and look like they've never been used.

I also got Chloe a couple little tank top shirts for summer. I've been keeping my eye out for some cheap additions to her summer wardrobe, since currently almost everything I have for her for summertime is size 9 months, and if she keeps growing at this rate, 9 month clothes aren't going to last her past about June. Which will suck, because her summer stuff is ad-orable. :( Anyway, so I'm working on cheap wardrobe supplementation. These tanktops are called 18 months, but I held them up to her, and they look like they could fit her right now (they'd be roomy, but still...they aren't far off.)

I also found her this great sun outfit from Bloomingdales that still has the tags on it!

Also with tags--this Laura Ashley sleeper. There's a girl in my ward (I don't think she reads my blog... :-/...) who is pregnant, but not finding out if she's having a boy or a girl. I thought I could give it to her as a shower gift. Do you think even though this has sailboats on it that it could pass as fairly gender-neutral? I would put Chloe in it... Besides, there's a 50/50 chance she'll have a boy anyway, right?

And how cute are these little melamine baby spoons?!?!
Here are some shots of Chloe's adorableness tonight. She inherited my (not so) awesome gimp-eye, and it was really showing tonight after her long day at the doctor. By the way, miracle of miracles, she fell asleep at 10:30, we stuck her in her crib, and she is STILL in there! Rock on, baby girl (1:17 am)! So why aren't we in bed? Because we're not tired yet--because we got up when Chloe got up this morning. At 11:00am.

I made Chloe this cute stuffed owl this week (with my friend Eliza, who has a baby who is just 6 weeks younger than Chloe). She seems to really like it and hugs it and slobbers on it a lot. I may actually put it on a shelf or something until she's old enough to really appreciate it...because it took a long time to make and I don't want her to ruin it. (Ironic, right, that I make something for my baby that I don't really want her to touch. ;-))
Tangent:

Sometimes I feel guilty for posting so many photos on my blog--like I feel bad for the readers who get to see basically the same picture about 400 times because I can't decide which one to post, so I post them all. Then I figure, if you are reading this, you must be interested in what's going on in our lives (hi Mom!), and so I shouldn't worry. After all, it is my blog, right?

I think it's too bad when people criticize other blogs by saying things like, "All they post about is their kids...." or when people apologize for "posting too often" or whatever. If someone else wants to blog about politics, or their fashion opinions, or their job, or whatever, don't they have a right to? So why can't I blog about what is important to me without feeling bad about it?

I figure people can choose to read or not read whatever they'd like, so I should just cater to the people who I know are reading this blog (me, my mom, Wes's mom) and assume that anyone else can take it or leave it. Right? Right?!? Then why do I worry? Oh well. I will keep doing what I'm doing. :) But it bothers me...and it bothers me that it bothers me. Geez.

But obviously that hasn't kept me from posting this mammoth of a post.

She's Loving It...

2012-02-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

"Hi guys!"

Her latest cuteness:

Her New Trick

2012-02-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

Chloe's new favorite thing is to spit. She's not intentionally spitting, she is just working on discovering her lips and tongue and it equals a lot of spit and slobber. We think it's adorable. :) If you don't want to watch this whole clip (it's kind of long) just start it at about 1:35 and you'll get a pretty good idea of what she's like lately.

Also, she rocked at sitting up in the cart at Costco today:She's pretty awesome.

Trying Out the Park

2012-02-04T20:44:00.000-08:00

We went on a walk today because it was pretty warm and we went by the park down the street. Wes decided to try Chloe in the swing. I thought she wouldn't like it because she's still working on balancing herself and I thought she'd just tip sideways, but she really liked it! She would've stayed there quite awhile, but it was getting colder and I wanted to get her bundled back in her stroller.

Sucking her thumb with her dolly. She really likes to hold onto her while she sucks her thumb.

Being her sweet self in her high chair.

Enjoying her Jumparoo.

A Few of Her Favorite Things (Lately)

2012-02-02T22:59:00.000-08:00

Chloe has a few new favorites.

Her thumb.
In fact, I have a hard time getting a photo of her without it in her mouth.

(even with mittens on...)...and when she smiles.

Her sleep.

She must be going through a growth spurt or else she's not feeling 100%, because she's been sleeping an extra lot lately. But only if I'm holding her--which I love, but it's also frustrating at times. Of course I love cuddling her and studying her adorable face while she sleeps (hence all the sleeping photos), but it sure makes getting anything else done difficult. I managed to do a sink of dishes today and put together her new jumparoo. That was it. Oh, I did straighten my hair and put on makeup (while holding her--the makeup, not the straightening...that'd be dangerous!) I felt like I had truly graduated into motherhood as I bounced my grumpy baby in one arm while applying makeup with the other (standing up, no less.)

Yeah, I rock.

Of course, her clingy-ness also has an upside. I get to see her make a million adorable faces throughout the day. She has the most lovely personality. I really need to start a little journal or something where I record all the cute things she does that I love and don't want to forget as she gets older.

Things like how she stops mid-suck while she's nursing to just look up at me and smile, and then goes back to nursing.

Or how she gives me THE HUGEST smile when I get her out of bed in the morning.

Or how she has the saddest cry in the world if she thinks she is about to eat and then I do something horrible like lay her on her changing table to change her diaper first (heaven forbid!).

Or how I know she's truly out of it and asleep for good for the night when she has both her hands above her head.

Or how she HAS to be holding on to either my shirt or my hair while she eats.

The other day I had to take the car to get an oil change. It was overdue after our long drive to Utah and back. When I dropped it off, they said it would be about an hour, so I decided to put Chloe in the stroller and walk to the nearby Target. Well, "nearby" is a little different when you drive from point A to point B, but when you are walking and have to follow sidewalks, etc. it takes a bit longer. I was picturing it was just up the road. Well, it took me 25 minutes to walk to there. I'd only been there a few minutes when they called to say my car was ready. I browsed around awhile longer (had to make my walk worth it!) before Chloe and I made our trek back (much more windy that direction...) Anyway, I'm not complaining. It was a lovely day (around 50 degrees) and Chloe and I enjoyed our walk very much. :)

Out of curiosity, after I picked the car up, I drove up past Target to see why I had thought it was so much closer than it was. Two minutes later I was passing it. Apparently it IS a short drive...just a long walk. Pushing a stroller and carrying a diaper bag. Uphill both ways (okay I exaggerate, but it was quite hilly.)

Ever since Chloe moved into her own room, I've been a little OCD about being able to hear her breathe at all times in the night on her monitor. I have a slight (okay, really bad) case of tinnitus, so my ears are always ringing...so in order for me to hear her breathe I have the monitor up pretty high (Wes claims he can hear it from the living room at night while he's studying.) ANYWAY, he requested I buy him some earplugs so he could sleep at night. I thought this photo was cute because Chloe is holding them and looking at the camera like it's a peace offering. It was like she was saying, "Here you go, Dad. Have some earplugs. Sorry I have been keeping you awake. :("

Grandma and Grandpa Petersen bought Chloe this high chair for Christmas. We set it up over the weekend and she has been LOVING it. She really enjoys watching me in the kitchen cooking or doing the dishes, etc (except for the past couple of days where she's been extra clingy...it's only been satisfying her for small spurts of time.) Doesn't she look so grown up?!?! :(

Because she needed something to entertain her besides her little farm animals she lays underneath of (remember her new constant need to be upright?), we ended up caving and buying her a jumparoo. It just came today, but she's really taken to it. She can even reach for the toys and get them to play music and stuff. She also supports her weight pretty well in it (once I put a blanket underneath her feet so she could reach the ground better.)

I walked into the room today and Chloe was actually reaching up grabbing her toys. She's batted at them in the past, but this is the first time I've seen her consciously reaching for them.

More Chloe

2012-01-27T20:05:00.000-08:00

Talking with Mommy:

Hanging out in Daddy and Mommy's room before bedtime:

Cooking dinner with Mommy in her carrier. For the record...it takes way more time to accomplish anything with her riding in it. It's like being pregnant--only you not only have a big mass of baby in front of you, you have to make sure you don't hit her on the head, burn her, cut her, etc, etc. Not to mention the extra 15 or so pounds she adds on.

She's not particularly happy or anything in this picture, but I just like it.

Love Her...

2012-01-26T16:54:00.000-08:00

Recently...

2012-01-26T11:24:00.000-08:00

Here are a few cell phone pictures from the past few days.

I put on a movie for her to watch while I was getting ready. She fell asleep. Go figure. Lest you think I'm an awful parent for not covering my poor child up, know that I had put that blanket on her little bare legs about 20 times and she would immediately kick it off. She really doesn't like blankets. At all.

Ready to go out on the town with her pal Norah (and my pal Eliza. Hey Eliza!) We had to look stylin'--so we went with her polka dot shirt, her jeggings, her yellow and blue bracelet, and her trendy slip-on shoes (which fell off her feet in her carseat in the car...so she only had one shoe while we were shopping. Good thing I had extra socks with.)

Shopping can be tiring.

Her new favorite thing to do (now if she could just find it at night...):

Rockin' the overalls. They are Baby Gap and I got them at Goodwill for 2 dollars before she was born. I'm almost postive they are boy ones (there is a little teddy bear tag on the back pocket), but who cares? She looks a-d0rable in them. :) They are even lined, so they are super-cozy.

That's what's been going on around here the past few days. Is it bad that it's not even February (in Wisconsin) and I can't WAIT for Spring? It's been way too cold around here lately. I know, I know...I'm a big baby.

(PS: New Chloe videos in the post right below this one.)

Chloe Videos

2012-01-26T11:20:00.001-08:00

Here are some cute videos from the past few days (for the grandparental units):

She was squealing and talking while I was in the other room...but when I brought the camera in, she sort of stopped. You can hear a couple of good ones, though:

She was being so happy...but wouldn't do her talking!

Trying to wake her up in the morning. She usually does these adorable stretches, but she just would not wake up. She's like her mommy--she likes her sleep.

Hawaiian Mumu

2012-01-23T21:20:00.000-08:00

She's growing up too fast! I bought this church dress for her thinking it would fit her in the springtime. Well, either spring better hurry up and get here, or she needs to stop growing!

Here's a video of Chloe sucking her thumb. She FINALLY figured it out this week. She's been gnawing on her hands forever now and just couldn't quite figure it out, but now she can find it pretty much whenever she wants.

Three Months!

2012-01-19T18:11:00.000-08:00

Chloe turned three months old last week, but we were about to head home from Utah, so I never got a chance to document it on here. You've already seen the photos from months one and two, but for comparison's sake they are here again.

Rubber-Baby Shots:

With clothes:

Close-up, Month 1:

Close-up, Month 2:

Close-up, Month 3

Her biggest changes this month have had more to do with her personality than her looks.

Personality:
-She is sleeping a bit better at night (isn't keeping us up until 3am (or 5am!!) nearly as frequently. She usually is asleep between 1am and 2am, which is working for us right now.

-She is babbling and squealing a TON, and often in response to other people talking to her. I think she thinks we know what she's saying. :)

-She is way more interested in toys, movies, computers, people talking to her.

-She will give us kisses...kind of. It's more like a slobbery smear on our cheek but we can pretend. :)

-She's giggled a couple of times, but mostly she just smiles a lot and squeals when she's happy and excited.

-She's a bit more slobbery and loves to blow lots of bubbles.

Physically:
-She has LESS hair than last month.

-She is wearing mostly 6 month clothes now, though she still fits 3 month, it's just snug. 6 month pants are still pretty long on her. Most of her length is in her body.

-She STILL doesn't fit hardly any shoes. We bought her size 1's for her blessing and they were HUGE. She seems to have fairly dainty feet at this point (not a trait given to her by EITHER of us.)

-She is SUPER good at holding her head up, and she can sit for a second before she tips over (0r forward.) Her legs are already getting too chubby for her Bumbo (love those legs). She can stand (supported, of course) for quite awhile before she decides she's tired of holding herself up and sits down.

-She finally figured out how to suck her thumb and finds it multiple times a day now. It appears to be more out of boredom/an interest in her hands than a method of comforting herself though, at this point.

-She's in Size 2 diapers.

-My mom and I crudely measured her last week with a measuring tape, and she appeared to be right around 26 inches!

-She hasn't rolled over yet.

Here is a video from this afternoon of her watching The Lion King. She seriously sat there, wide awake just like that for about 45 minutes. Little Couch Potato!

It helped me be able to get a few things done around here to not have her need me to entertain her.

A few random photos...

2012-01-17T20:07:00.000-08:00

With Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Johansen:

With Uncle Dylan:

With Grandma and Grandpa Frisby:

Her cute face:

Finding Her Voice...

2012-01-16T21:22:00.000-08:00

...and boy does she have a lot to say.

Late Night Post

2012-01-13T22:12:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting in a Hampton Inn in Rawlins, Wyoming while Wes snoozes and Chloe stares at me through the slats of an unfamiliar crib (which is a good trial run since she's going to start going in her crib the minute we get back to Madison.) I'm really tired, but someone's gotta keep an eye on Bright Eyes over here. I know the second I turn the light off she's going to start squawking. Silly thing. So while I lay here waiting for her to doze (wishful thinking...), I thought I'd update with some cell phone pictures from the past couple of weeks.

Cheering for the Badgers in the Rose Bowl. We lost. So sad. At least Chloe looked good.

She loves to sleep with her hands either clenched together or up high over her head.

Dozing with Dolly.

Hanging out with Mommy.

Being her usual cute self:

At the SLC airport waiting to go to Albuquerque with Mommy and Daddy.

Can't we board the plane YET?!?

(For the record, she didn't make a peep on the flight. Everyone assumed she fell asleep and commented on how lucky we were. She was actually awake the whole time but just managed to be her little angel-girl self. We ARE lucky. PS, she loved the take-off and grinned from ear to ear. I guess I've got an adrenaline junkie on my hands.)

Safely landed in Albuquerque waiting to pick up our rental car:

Off for a busy day in Albuquerque:

Lunch break in between meetings.

A Stuffed Sopaipilla stop at Sadie's Restaurant was a Must.

Off to buy a house!

Catching a bite to eat at Flying Star before the flight back to Utah. (The highchair was a hit for about 15 seconds...til she got sick of holding herself up.)

A little grumpy before takeoff:

I don't know why I worried--she ended up falling asleep right after this picture and was a doll the whole flight back. PS, if you have a baby, Delta will score you the best seats on the plane with incredible leg room. It rocked. I think I'll make sure I have a child under 2 from here on out just so I can score those awesome seats every time I fly! Just kidding. Sort of. ;-)

Taking a little nap with Uncle Dylan (haha, sorry Dyl--it was too funny not to post):

It was so sad to leave Utah. I'll post more about our visit when I get settled back in Madison.

Catching Up...

2012-01-04T15:15:00.000-08:00

(Some of these photos are cell phone pics. Sorry they are fuzzy...)

Sharing a Sundae with Daddy on the road-trip to Utah (don't worry...no ice cream was consumed by Chloe in the making of this photo):

Meeting Great G&G:

Chloe on Christmas morning. She was excited about her clackety-crab for tummy time. :)

After awhile, she was hungry and not too thrilled about seeing what was in her stocking.

Oh well.

After breakfast, she took a little nap with Grandpa while Mommy got ready for church.

We went over to the Frisby's house for Christmas breakfast and lunch and went to Sacrament meeting with them. Then we headed home to my parent's for the remainder of the evening. Here are Chloe and Wes waiting to start the present-opening fest.There were a lot of presents, and at one point we took a break and changed Chloe into her jammies. She promptly fell asleep and took her second nap on Grandpa for the day. He must be comfortable.
Hanging out with Grampy one night:
Out shopping with the girls:
We went down to Jessame's the Friday after Christmas to see her new townhouse and enjoy a birthday dinner for my mom. She had the place decorated so cute, and her tables were set beautifully (and dinner was delicious, of course).

She also made mom a cake shaped like a gingerbread house from a cake mold I'd given her for her birthday. She dusted it with powdered sugar and it looked like there was snow on the roof. So cute. :) With Aunt Jessie and Dolly on our way to Texas Roadhouse for some New Year's Eve festivities:Hanging out with Dad at the Roadhouse:Talking with Grandpa at Roadhouse:
Zonked out in Grandma Frisby's arms while playing games on New Year's Eve:This is how Chloe felt about staying up until Midnight on New Year's Eve (which is odd, because 3AM is her usual bedtime of choice...):

Our first family photo to ring in 2012. :) Just 10 more days in Utah (and part of that will actually be in Albuquerque) before we head home. We are going to miss our families, but are grateful we've been able to spend this much time with them. All good things must come to an end, right? We have to get back to our real lives sometime...and I'm sure my mom will be a little relieved to have no house-guests again.

Blessing Day

2012-01-01T16:44:00.000-08:00

We blessed Chloe today. She looked so sweet in her little white dress. Wes gave her a beautiful blessing and she was an angel through (almost) the whole thing. It was nice to have the family up and have everyone get to meet her! Love her!

Utah So Far...

2011-12-27T00:43:00.000-08:00

NOW She Passes Out...

2011-12-15T13:32:00.000-08:00

I guess keeping your mom awake til 5 am can be exhausting. I have the perfect solution...do you think she'll listen?

Eh...not likely. I'm pretty sure she's not gonna listen to reason just yet. In the wee hours of the morning I have to keep reminding myself of that.

Two Months Old!

2011-12-13T09:07:00.000-08:00

Chloe is two months old today!

Here is the comparison from her one-month photos. I didn't notice the change so much day-to-day, but you can tell she's definitely changed this month when you put them side-to-side! One big difference is how she's stopped clenching up her fists and holding them up by her chin. Her cheeks are also a lot bigger. :)

I can't believe it's been two months already. The time is flying!!!

She's Working On It...

2011-12-12T21:41:00.000-08:00

Lately Chloe has been working on finding her thumb. She seems to recognize that she has a tongue and is enjoying making smacking noises and sticking it out. (See photo below for evidence.) She's also starting to realize she has hands and that she can make them do what she wants. She just can't quite figure out how to separate her thumb from her fist...and her fist doesn't quite fit in her mouth, so she gets a little frustrated.

She's also getting excellent at grabbing things like blankets, toys, my hair...you get the idea.

And of course, she's getting cuter and more fun by the second.

Being a baby is hard work. Sometimes you just need a little rest from keeping your mom up all night.This first video is actually an accident. I was trying to get a video of her trying to suck her thumb, but she seems to recognize the camera (or at least thinks it's funny or something) because she started to smile when I came over with it. Maybe she was just happy to see my cute face. :) Sorry if the swinging motion makes you dizzy. It helps to kind of step back.

This video I was a little stealthier, but because of that it's further away. Hopefully you can see (between the distance and the swinging) that she is trying to suck on her fist. Maybe that's boring to most people...but the grandparents will think it's cute and so do we.
She'll figure it out sooner or later...

She's so glad when Daddy comes home.

Still a little small for shoulder rides, I'm thinking. It will probably be more fun when she can actually see over the top of Daddy's big ol' head.

She didn't seem to mind, in any case.

Little Sweetie Pie

2011-12-11T18:32:00.000-08:00

Chloe's cute church dress today:

Here she is wearing the cute ruffle skirt I made her last night:

Love her. :)

Two Month Check Up

2011-12-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

Chloe went for her 2-Month Checkup today. I was not looking forward to her shots. She was such a happy baby all morning and had no idea what was headed her way. I felt like I was taking a lamb to the slaughter. :(

All the nurses commented on what a sweet and happy baby she was. They weighed and measured her (twice...because they thought maybe they had messed up the first time, since she was HUGE). She clocked in at a whopping 13lbs 9 oz (98th percentile) and 24 inches long (96th percentile). Her head circumference was 79th percentile. The doctor said she was "proportional." I guess that's good. ;-)

One of the vaccines they do is an oral one. They told me that it tastes better than the "icky" Vitamin D supplement I give her every night so she'd probably like it okay. I told them that she LOVES the Vitamin D supplement and slurps it down every night like candy. They didn't believe me, I don't think, because when they gave her the oral vaccine and she slurped it on down they acted amazed. Yeah, my baby rocks like that.

Then it was time for the shots. :( They stuck her, and she didn't cry...for a second. I thought maybe she was just going to be okay with it...and then the shocked look came across her face. Then the crying. I've NEVER heard her cry like that. It was so sad!!! I held it together, though, and when they handed her back to me I was relieved that she wanted me to calm her down and cuddle her and that she didn't hate me. She fell asleep while we waited for the doctor to come in. After he checked her over he told me that the nurses would be in to give her her shots...I guess he hadn't noticed the bandaids on her legs. I told him that they'd already given them to her and he was really surprised because she was already in such a pleasant mood again. That's my girl. :)

After the appointment she fell asleep in her carseat and I went about my grocery shopping and various other errands. She slept through it all. She's been a tad temperamental tonight, but overall has been as sweet as ever. If anything she's just a little more cuddly and once in awhile she makes a little squeal...I think when we bump her sore legs.

She played with Daddy for awhile tonight.

He teased her a little too much.

She looks thrilled, right?What a sweetie. I will make sure to cuddle her a little extra this weekend. (Oh, by the way, the doctor says we must hold her a ton because her head is perfectly shaped with no flat spots. Go us.) Spoiled little thing. :)

8 Weeks Old

2011-12-08T20:17:00.000-08:00

Chloe is 8 weeks old today! Tomorrow she goes for her 2-month checkup. I'm not looking forward to her getting her shots. :( She won't know what hit her...

She's learning to like her Bumbo seat, but she can't sit there long before her head starts to get heavy.

She sure is sweet. :)

Chloe Videos

2011-12-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

Chloe Sucking Her Thumb

Hanging Out With Daddy

Shopping With Mommy

Chloe-7 Weeks Old

Chloe and Mommy

Chloe and Daddy

Chloe and Her Animals

Chloe Just Born

Chloe Getting Cleaned Up

Chloe--Minutes After Birth

Chloe's Cuteness

Hanging Out With Mom and Dad

So Happy in the Mornings

We got the moves.

2011-12-07T04:48:00.001-08:00

We've got sweet dance moves here at the Frisby house. And some Alvin and the Chipmunks impersonation skills.

Click HERE to check us out.

Sundays at the Frisby House

2011-12-04T14:22:00.000-08:00

Trying to get the sleepy heads up for church this morning.

(And for the record, I do not leave her alone in the bed with him when he's zonked like that. Just so no one judges...)

All ready to go in one of her Christmas dresses. Wes thought it was a little early for Christmas dresses, but thanks to Kohls 90% off clearance last year (I got this dress for $2.00) she has two more holiday dresses to get through.

She's always really fussy on Sunday mornings. I guess just because her feedings get a little messed up...

Some more pictures for the grand-parental units

2011-12-02T18:35:00.000-08:00

Chloe is getting to be more and more fun every day. She seems to have a fairly good grasp of what is going on now most of the time (as in...she's interested in the people/things around her.)

I'm excited for our visit to Utah for the holidays. She is getting cuter and cuter every day! I think The Fam is going to like her a little bit.

Happy December 1st!

2011-12-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

We had to have a little photoshoot with Chloe's little elf tights. ($2.97 at The Children's Place!)

She is so patient. I put her in about a million different positions and she hardly made a fuss.

And these two are for Grandma Petersen. She thinks her Christmas friends, Raggedy Ann and Andy, are pretty good company.

7 Weeks Old!

2011-11-30T23:06:00.000-08:00

Chloe has really found her personality this week. She is using her voice a lot more (both to cry and whine as well as to coo and squeal). She is adorable, so we don't mind that she's a bum who still lives at home. We'll give her a few more weeks....She makes the funniest faces. I wonder if she's going to be quite the drama queen. I just think of Zoolander when I see this picture:

Here she is sporting the BabyLegs Grandma Petersen gave her. They are still super-long on her, but I was surprised by how well she held them up. I guess I shouldn't be...she's got some thunder thigh action going on. What a goofball.

We think we'll keep her.

The Many Faces of Chloe

2011-11-28T15:03:00.000-08:00

Chloe and I had a good time playing together today.

She was talking 100 miles a minute about all her baby friends, and her favorite toys, and how much she loves bathtime, and what her favorite food is. It's milk, by the way. (Though her nightly Vitamin D supplement seems to please her too. I think it's cherry flavored or something.) She sure is getting her own personality. She's sort of hard right now because she wants to be entertained, and yet there's not a lot to entertain her. She's too little to really enjoy any toys (other than the one that hangs over her head that she swats at, but that gets old...), and she also likes to be held...but is quite squirmy so it's exhausting to hold her for too long if you are trying to accomplish anything else. At all. All day.She sure is fun though and she rewards us for our hard work by shooting us cute little smiles and squeals. She's also getting great at pulling my hair. Not quite sure how to fix that one other than to cut it...and that's not happening, so I guess I'll learn to deal with it, or to dodge her deadly grasp.She also wanted me to take a picture of what's left of her hair so no one thinks she's bald. She would hate to be mistaken for a boy....though the male-patterned hair loss isn't really helping her case. :) She sort of has a haircut like Grandpa Frisby. Oh well.

Ninjabread Men

2011-11-26T15:58:00.001-08:00

Today I put Chloe in one of her favorite outfits. (Okay, fine...she couldn't care less if she was naked. This is one of MY favorite outfits). I got this "I Love Daddy" squirrel shirt on clearance at Baby Gap this summer. It's just so sweet with the daddy and baby squirrel cuddled up together. :) The boots I bought on clearance at Kohls this past spring the day we found out we were having a girl. I just couldn't pass them up. I think I paid about $2.00 for them.

She's so sweet most of the time; but when she chooses to cry, she really knows how to wail. Isn't that the most pathetic-looking "sad" face you've ever seen? She sure knows how to get our attention when she wants to.

She turned 6 weeks old on Thanksgiving. I don't think we could be more thankful for anything. She is seriously the most precious blessing we could ever receive. We still look at each other every day and ask each other if she's really ours? She's so perfect--even when she's screaming and/or keeping us up at night.

Also, for my birthday Wes bought me these "Ninjabread Men" cookie cutters. So for Thanksgiving this year (instead of making pies for just us) I attempted making gingerbread cookies for the first time, and we busted out the new cookie cutters (or...since they're ninjas...perhaps they "busted" out themselves? ha, ha. I tried...).

I also used some of the dough to attempt some reindeer cookies I'd seen on Pinterest. I used the leftover pieces of dough that had already been rolled out once or twice to experiment with my reindeer. In the future I'd use the really fresh kind to keep it from looking cracked like this. They still turned out pretty cute, I think.

And for the record, the gingerbread recipe was awesome. We will definitely be making it again sometime.

UPDATE FOR BETHANY: Recipe for gingerbread found HERE.

One Fish, Two Fish

2011-11-21T13:40:00.000-08:00

I should probably re-name this blog "Chloe Frisby & Her Parents" since she's the only one ever on it anymore. :) I guess it makes sense though since every second of our time is consumed by her. No one wants to see our ugly mugs on here anyway when they can ooh and ahh over someone much cuter though, right? :)

Chloe has started smiling a whole lot. She especially does it in the mornings when we get her out of bed. I guess she's happy to see us. :) She also does it quite a bit right after she's eaten or while we're changing her diaper. I guess this girl appreciates comfort. :)

Sometimes she does this quick, gaspy laugh. It makes her look like a crazy person and her one eye goes all squinty, but I just love those gums!

Today she is wearing her "One Fish, Two Fish" shirt. We bought it long before we ever knew we were having her, so it's a little uni-sex, but she rocks it pretty well with a bow on her head. :)

Chloe One Month Photos

2011-11-18T21:16:00.000-08:00

Our friends Sam and Monika who do professional photography, asked if they could take pictures of Chloe for their portfolio. Of course, we were more than happy to lend her to them as a model. Thanks Sam and Monika for the awesome photos!! They turned out so sweet. :)

Five Weeks!

2011-11-17T18:26:00.000-08:00

Chloe is five weeks old today. She is starting to smile a lot more. I'm pretty sure she's about twice the size she was when she was born--she seriously seems huge the past few days! I can't believe it.

She is so much fun and she's so sweet and cuddly. I love to cuddle with her...but the fact that she doesn't hardly ever let me put her down means I don't get anything done most days. I'm lucky if I get the two of us bathed and dressed by 3:00 in the afternoon! (Nevermind if I get breakfast before then!) It's all worth it though. She is such a doll. We love her so much!

The Fastest Month of My Life

2011-11-14T14:00:00.001-08:00

Chloe is one month old! (As of yesterday, November 13th)

Look at that chubby belly!! It's rolling over the top of her diaper!

How is she growing so fast??!!?? I may be biased, but I think she's getting cuter and sweeter every day. She is also becoming less and less easily entertained. I guess that means she's getting smarter, right? :)

Chloe 4 Weeks Old

2011-11-10T18:33:00.003-08:00

Here are a few pictures of Chloe tonight. She's getting a little bit of chub these days. :)

Chloe Smiles

2011-11-07T11:17:00.001-08:00

First Day at Church

2011-11-06T09:09:00.001-08:00

Today we ventured out for Sacrament Meeting. Chloe wore the dress and shoes I wore on my blessing day. Isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen? For the record, she was very good all through Sacrament. I only had to take her out for a second.

Meeting Aunt Stacey and Uncle Tom

2011-11-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

My Aunt Stacey and Uncle Tom own a cabin up here in Wisconsin and they flew in this weekend, so we drove a couple hours north to Wausau to meet them for lunch and show off Chloe.

Here we are all ready to go. Chloe is wearing her pumpkin pie outfit in honor of Thanksgiving. We tried to get some good pictures, but she just screamed bloody murder. She is so mild-mannered most of the time, but lately when we get the camera out she goes all ballistic.Doesn't she look so grown up in those baby jeans? :)

Here she is meeting Aunt Stacey. I know these are all really similar, but they were all so cute I couldn't choose which one.

Cell phone pic:
Stacey was over the moon to meet Chloe and I'm so glad we got to meet up with them, even if it only was for a couple of hours. It's always nice to see family when you live so far away from everyone.

Now Chloe is cuddled up for a little nap. I guess meeting new people is hard work when you are so dang cute.
Don't mind my hideous face. I had to post this to show how tiny and cuddly she is.
That's all for now!

Playing With Her Jungle Friends

2011-11-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

This morning I put Chloe in her bassinet while I got ready. She was being super-quiet so I figured she'd fallen back to sleep. I went in to check on her, and she was wide awake staring at the ceiling fan spinning around and around. I figured if she was that alert, she might enjoy her little mobile that came with the bassinet, so I went and got it. She laid there quiet as a mouse wide awake for about an hour. It's fun to see how much more aware and alert she is even at three weeks old compared to week one. She's going to get so big so fast! :(

These pictures are mostly for the grandparents...I know they aren't probably terribly exciting to anyone else. Cell phone picture (I wish this one was on my real camera because it's the best one!)

Dear Aunt Jessie

2011-11-02T15:18:00.001-07:00

Thanks for my cute elephant outfit!

I'm calling right now to tell you all about it!

Love Chloe

Skeleton Baby

2011-10-31T22:23:00.000-07:00

This is how Chloe felt about getting her picture taken in her Halloween costume.

We got a few good ones eventually, though:

Late-Night Baby Dreams

2011-10-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

Life with Chloe--2 weeks old

2011-10-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

Well my mom left yesterday, so now we are officially on our own. Good thing Chloe is literally the sweetest and calmest baby ever. She only cries when she really needs something, she eats like a champ, and she sleeps so well I have to wake her up to feed her. She loves to cuddle, and refuses to sleep any way but on her side--she automatically rolls herself to the side the minute you lay her down.

She had her two week checkup yesterday, and she is doing great! She is 10oz above her birthweight---which is great considering she lost almost a pound after she was born. She is also two inches longer than when she was born--putting her in the 90th percentile for height (no surprise there...)

We are loving every second with Chloe and feel so incredibly grateful to have her here with us safe and sound.

Here are a few pictures from the past few days (there are a ton on Facebook too...):

3 days old
4 days old
6 days old 1 week old
9 days old

10 days old

11 days old12 days old13 days old

Go Badgers!

2011-10-22T19:58:00.001-07:00

Announcement

2011-10-21T08:41:00.001-07:00

One Week

2011-10-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

Grandpa is here to visit!
A little autumn photoshoot:
Our little green goblin. :)

Chloe's Birth Story

2011-10-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of requests for Chloe's birth story, so here goes. (PS don't read if you don't want to read about dilation, etc.)

My due date had been on Sunday, October 9th, and she didn't come. So I went to my appointment on Tuesday, and I still hadn't progressed from the 1cm I'd been for the past few weeks, so the doctor asked what we wanted to do. We told him we wanted to be induced as soon as possible. My mom had arrived from Utah, and we were anxious to get the baby here ASAP--especially after our false alarm from the previous week that got our hopes up.

The doctor told us his schedule was full until Friday morning, which we were not too happy about, but we really had no choice. I called the office later that day and told them that if they had anything open up earlier that we'd like to be contacted, and they said they would. So later that afternoon I got the call that the doctor had decided we could come in the following night at 7:30. We were so glad!

So on Wednesday, October 12th, we headed into the hospital at 7:30pm. They checked me and I was still at a 1, and they said they needed to give me some pills to ripen my cervix. They said it would take 3 of them at 4 hour intervals, which meant that they wouldn't even start the pitocin until morning. They gave me the first pill at 9:30pm, which started my contractions (they were very mild at this point) then a second pill at 1:30am (which made them a little worse.) They were supposed to give me my third pill at 5:30am, but at 4:30 my water broke on its own, which really kicked things into gear.

The contractions started coming very hard and fast. They were pretty much two minutes apart from that point on. They checked me every couple of hours, and from 4:30am-11:30am they couldn't give me anything for the pain because I hadn't even progressed to 3cm yet, which is the earliest they'll give you the epidural. They did give me some kind of narcotic into my IV around 11:30 which helped take the edge off, but as that wore off, the contractions were coming even harder than they had been before.

They finally came in and checked me around 12:30pm and decided they could give me the epidural because I was almost the 3cm and I was bawling my eyes out like a big baby. The anesthesiologist came in and saw me sobbing and thought that I was nervous about the epidural, but I was like, "I'm not scared of the epidural--I just want it NOW!" I felt so stupid, but I guess I just started panicking because I really didn't know how much more I could take. I had been having contractions since 10:00pm the night before, and had been in very intense labor ever since my water had broke early that morning, so I think I had just had it.

So they gave me the epidural, and I almost immediately fell asleep. I woke up about an hour or so later because I was starting to feel the contractions again (way more mild...but I could tell they were coming.) I told them I was feeling a lot of pressure, so they checked me. They were going to start pitocin at that point since my epidural had set in and they wanted me to dilate more, but when they checked me I had gone from a 3 to a 10 in just over an hour and they told me I could start pushing soon.

So around 2:00pm I started pushing, and at 3:23pm she was here! I was so exhausted when she finally came out. There is nothing more satisfying than knowing that the pain is over and that your baby is here! (I could still feel a lot through the pushing stages--probably because my epidural had only been in for a couple of hours.) They put her up on my chest, and she was kind of whimpering, but not really crying, and I kept asking them why she wasn't crying. They kept saying she was okay, but it was making me so nervous I made them take her and get her cleaned out.

She weighed 8lbs 30z and was 19.5 inches long. Her apgar scores were 8 and 9. She was great!

So far she's been such a good baby. She was a little jaundiced over the weekend and had to be on a bili-blanket for a couple of days, but it seemed to really help and now she's doing a lot better.

Anyway, we're so grateful she's here safe and sound and we love her just a little bit. :) I'm pretty sure I took 200 pictures today.

3 Days Old

2011-10-17T19:43:00.000-07:00

Chloe Alexis Frisby

2011-10-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

Chloe Alexis Frisby has arrived!

She was born on October 13th, 2011 at 3:23 pm after 18 hours of labor. She weighed 8lbs 3oz and was 19.5 inches long.

We got home from the hospital yesterday afternoon and have been loving cuddling her. She has a little bit of jaundice, so today she is on the bilirubin lights and looks like a little gloworm. Updates to come. :)

False Alarm

2011-10-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was having contractions on and off throughout the day. Then Wes and I went out to dinner, and by about 8:30 they were starting to come pretty consistently. By 10:00 I had been having them every 5 minutes for an hour and a half and decided to call Labor and Delivery and see if I should come in. They told me I could if I wanted to, or I could wait awhile longer. So Wes and I decided to go on a walk. While we were on the walk, they started coming even stronger and faster, so we called L&D and said we were coming in.

All the way through the hospital, down the halls, up the elevator, to L&D I was having consistent, painful contractions. The minute I got checked in, lo and behold, they stopped. They checked me and I was only at 1 1/2 cm...just a half a centimeter more than my appointment the day before! Bummer. They hooked me up to the monitors and after about 20 minutes of monitoring, all they could see was a very healthy baby (which is good, don't get me wrong...) Her heartrate was insane...she was moving like crazy and she hated that fetal monitor thing they hooked onto my stomach. She kept moving away from it. The staff didn't seem too convinced of my "contractions" I'd been telling them about, since my contraction sheet was only showing "uterine irritability." Finally, when they were about to take me off the monitor, my body managed to eek out ONE contraction. In 20 minutes. Awesome. So they sent me home.

I felt SO stupid! Especially since I had legitimately been having contractions for the past 2 hours and then they just LEFT. I think Baby Girl was playing a joke on us.

So home we went, and of course, all the way back through the hospital, into the parking garage, driving home, etc. I was having contractions again. We got home, I sat down in my LazBoy and almost immediately fell asleep (still with back pain and cramping.)

Here I sit, 12 hours after we got home from the hospital. Not contracting, but with constant cramping and back pain still hanging on. Frustrating. I wish she'd come! Once we were at the hospital, I REALLY didn't want to leave without her OUT of me. But it was not to be.... Hopefully this weekend, though? :) Maybe she's holding out for her grandma to arrive on Monday. :) I know my mom would be happy about that. :)

39 Week Kicking Video

2011-10-01T22:19:00.000-07:00

I took this tonight while we were watching the Badger game. I think Baby Girl is ready to come--she is getting kind of impatient with the confined space, and she's not afraid to let me know it. I put a coaster on my stomach so you can see the movement a little better. Enjoy!

Sesame Street "Glee"

2011-09-23T14:01:00.001-07:00

Had to post this. Basically, Glee is a horrible show these days, but this is awesome:

All Done!

2011-09-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

I know I already posted pictures of the nursery, but I didn't really do any of the whole room, just closeups of various parts. That's because up until yesterday, the side of the room that has to remain "office" was a disaster area. Now, it's all nice and clean, and I bought some very cute curtains to replace the green ones that were in there, so now the room is officially completed!Who knew that ten dollars in Kohl's cash could be so rewarding? Those curtains make the room look totally different from how it did before.

Anyway, we also got my picture frames hung up. I think they turned out pretty cute:
In fact, I'm really excited at how the whole room turned out. Especially given that we spent a grand total of about $75 dollars to make it look like this. (Excluding the cost of the crib....)

Wes thinks that this room is the "most decorated baby room in the world." I think he should look on YouTube. ;-)

Hairbows

2011-09-21T15:42:00.000-07:00

What I've been working on the past few days:

Cute, right?

We were talking last night about how unfortunate it will be if it ends up that this baby girl is really a boy. Because, um...everything we have is girl, and everything I've made is girly. Except the carseat/stroller, the swing, and the crib, everything would have to go back to the store... Which would be a serious bummer.

Nursery Pictures

2011-09-19T17:34:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos of what we've been working on for the baby's room. The sun was setting, so the lighting is kind of shadowy, but you get the idea.

Crib:
Afghan made by my great Aunt:
Shelf:Drawers and extra diapers:
Cute switchplate cover:
Changing table corner:This is our stroller and carseat (and the carseat cover I made.)

And her cute tutu (red in honor of the UW Badgers!) I made for her first little photoshoot:
I also made these for her wall today (they are cuter in person...the flash kept glaring off of the glass, so I had to take shots from odd angles):

So her room isn't done, but it's getting there!

Nauvoo

2011-09-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

We left Albuquerque on Friday, August 26th. We weren't sure if we were going to try to make the trip to Wisconsin in two days or three because we wanted to stop in Nauvoo and spend some time. Turns out we managed to see plenty of Nauvoo AND make the drive in two (long) days. So we got into Madison by Saturday evening on the 28th (midnight-ish), which was nice because it saved us a night of paying for a hotel.

Anyway, here are some pictures from Nauvoo. We'll hopefully get some more up of our road trip later on...but Nauvoo was the most interesting anyway. Enjoy!

The Temple Statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in front of temple:Weird flying moth bugs that were all over town:

The brick mason and the blacksmith shop:

Carthage:

Awesome drinking fountain at Carthage. I just thought it was funny how it was sitting among all the landscaping all beautiful. :)We would've liked a little more time in Nauvoo since Wes had never been there and there was so much to see, but I was really anxious to get home, and we were only a 5-hour drive from Madison, so we toughed it out and drove home that night. I think we saw most of the major things though--we went on a wagon ride around the city that gave us a pretty good overview, and we got to see the visitor's center, the temple, Carthage, etc. so we saw quite a lot and really enjoyed it. It was my third time visiting, and I think every time I have gone things have been different. It's almost like a new trip each time you go! Maybe we'll drive through again on our way back to Albuquerque next Spring. Who knows?

We are sure glad to be home now! Back in our own apartment...our own bed...our own kitchen... It's been so nice to be back. We love Albuquerque, but hotel living gets old fast. We're excited to enjoy our last school year here in Madison before heading back West. Wes starts classes tomorrow, and then things are going to get crazy around here!

PS There is another new post right below this one.

35 Weeks

2011-09-05T17:59:00.000-07:00

Wes and I went up to Devil's Lake today for Labor Day. I have been wanting to get a few photos of "The Belly" before I look anymore swollen and huge, and a scenic lake seemed like the perfect place to get a few shots. Here are a few of my favorites:We are pretty much feeling ready. We have almost everything we need, and I think the reality that we're nearing the end is sinking in! Most of the nursery is put together, and I spent the week making some meals to freeze so we have some things on hand for when she comes. Now I just have to clean the apartment...it's still a disaster area from when we got back last week. Only 5 weeks (give or take...) to go!

Model Home Pics

2011-08-22T12:05:00.001-07:00

A few pictures from the inside of the model home. We are making quite a few changes, and our cabinets, tile, counters, carpet, etc will be different. Plus, of course, this house is furnished. But it gives you an idea of the room sizes and layout.

Note to Wes's family: Videos with more details to come!

Living Room

Kitchen

Dining Area

Loft

Bedroom #1

Bedroom #2

Bedroom #3/Office (we're not doing double-doors, just a bedroom door for more privacy so it can be a guest bedroom or something later on.)Laundry/Utility Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Walk-In Closet View #1

Walk-In Closet View #2 (yeah, it's big...) We're actually splitting this closet in half and making part of it storage you can access from the laundry room. Confusing, but it will work and make things a lot more functional for us....since we have nowhere near this many clothes. :) So that's the mini-tour. :)

If you are already sick of/totally uninterested in our house-building progress, sorry about all the posts recently. But it's sort of consuming our lives right now. :)

Sold!

2011-08-20T16:57:00.000-07:00

The color-choosing commences. And it's way harder than I thought. It's easy to choose the carpet you like...but it's hard to make the tile you want coordinate. And the cabinets. And the countertops. And the paint color. *Sigh...* And we basically have today and tomorrow to make the big decisions. So worth it, though! Can't wait to have our own house!

Home Sweet (Future) Home

2011-08-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

It's official! We're building a house!(Well, almost official...we are going tomorrow to work out the purchase agreement.)

Long story...you don't have to read it. I won't be offended.

Ever since June we've been keeping our eye on this development over on the Southeast side of Albuquerque. We are really keen on building over there because it is about a 5-10 minute drive to Kirtland Airforce Base where Wes works, and he won't have to get on the freeway or anything. It's basically the ONLY place you can build anymore on the Southeast side of ABQ. All the other new developments are in the other quadrants of the city, which would all mean a 20-45 minute drive for Wes on the freeway each way, which (given how awful ABQ drivers are) scares me to death.

The problem has been that we haven't been able to work out the appropriate timeline to get everything taken care of because 1) if we start building now the house will be done too early, 2) if it gets built too early, we won't be ready to start paying the mortgage on it and we would lose it, and our earnest money, because we wouldn't be ready to take it over.

So why were we even thinking of building if the timing wasn't going to work? Well, because the lots are going fast, since they just reduced the base prices of the homes, and we have a specific lot we really want (it's super-deep which gives us more backyard, since you don't pay for the depth of the lot, only the width.) So we were worried if we waited until we were ready to start building (December-January-ish), that the lot (and possibly ANY lot) would be gone!

So we've gone back and forth on whether it was possible to do it, and a few weeks ago we had decided that there was no way we were going to be able to make the timeframe work. So we kind of just backed down and figured we'd have to wait until we got back and look into buying something that was already built or something.

Then we got a call about a week or so ago saying that the owner of the company wanted to meet with us about our situation and see what they could do. So we went...thinking he'd probably say he wanted us to pay an extra fee, or interest on the construction loan or something...but nope! He was great and told us since we'd been so persistent about wanting to build with them, that they would make an exception and do a lot hold for us until January when we are ready to build, without charging us anything additional!!

So the good news: We get the lot we want in the timeframe that works for us. The bad news: Because it's taken so long to get the timeline issues worked out, we only have tomorrow basically to get everything finalized with them (or at least give them a pretty good idea of what we want) before we head back to Wisconsin next week.

So the decisions begin: Formica or Granite? Upgraded carpet and tile? Extra square footage? Recessed lighting? Arched doorways? Moving around walls? Exterior features/colors? Moving around windows? Upgraded cabinets? Raised-height countertops? Fireplace? Bigger patio? Paint colors? Doorknobs, faucets, light fixtures?!?

Good thing we've had all summer to DAYDREAM about what we would do. Now we just need to decide what we actually can afford/what is practical for us.

We're really excited, though, and feel like we've been pretty blessed through this process. Here's to hoping everything goes smoothly from here on out! If everything goes according to plan, we'll have a brand-new custom-made home waiting for us when we get back from Wisconsin next spring. How awesome will that be??

Halloween Baby

2011-08-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

We bought Baby Girl her Halloween outfit yesterday. Since she's only going to be a few weeks old, we figured a "costume" wasn't exactly necessary, but that she'd look nice and festive in this awesome glow-in-the-dark outfit:

She's gonna look pretty cute! And we tried out the glow-in-dark part last night and it actually lights up really well. Can't wait to put her in it!!

I also wanted this outfit but they didn't have it in Newborn sizing in the store:And I want this one:
With this hat:Am I asking too much? Probably. I couldn't bring myself to spend $9.00 on a baby hat. Not when I've been getting entire outfits for $2.99 left and right over the past few months.

And don't even get me started on the Christmas stuff they just got in at the store. Oh. My. Gosh.

On another note, I took some videos of Baby Girl kicking yesterday. I'll probably post it later so stay tuned! She's getting to be quite the acrobat.

3 Years and Counting

2011-08-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

Three years ago today, this is where we were:Since we've been married we've both graduated from USU. We've owned 2 different cars. We've lived in Utah, New Mexico, and Wisconsin. We've had 5 different apartments--well, 4 and a hotel room. :) Between us we've had 6 different jobs (4 of those were mine...Wes is more stable than I am. ;)) Wes just has one more year of grad school. We're about to have our first baby.

A pretty eventful 3 years if you ask me! I can't speak for Wes, but August 15, 2008 was the best decision I ever made. :-)

Love you, Wes! Happy 3rd Anniversary!

31 Weeks

2011-08-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

We're down to single-digits! Only 9 weeks to go!

Baby Frisby Contest

2011-07-29T22:30:00.000-07:00

This Week...

2011-07-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

Wes celebrated his 25th Birthday this week. Since we don't have an oven here in our humble abode, we opted for a Red Velvet Cake Roll from WalMart across the street. It actually was delicious! (Red Velvet Cake is my all-time favorite cake that my mom makes for my Bday every year, so I was skeptical about its ability to be anything close to the homemade kind, but this was actually really good...not Mom's...but good!)
Sidenote...don't buy those skinny swirly candles. They start dripping wax in about .05 seconds.
Also, here I am at 28 weeks today. Only 12 weeks to go! I hope it goes by fast... Wes thinks it already is going too fast. Perspective, I guess. ;-)

The Baby, the Coupon, and the Wardrobe...

2011-07-12T13:46:00.001-07:00

When my family was here in Albuquerque, Mom and Jessame and I got some quality baby-shopping time in. I'm pretty sure that no baby needs this many clothes to get them through their first year of life, but Baby Frisby is going to have quite the wardrobe. We scored deals we couldn't pass up, and what baby doesn't want to be well-dressed? ;-)

Our Carter's Store Haul:
Original: $20.00 Paid: $3.30

Original: $24.00 Paid: $3.30

Original: $17.00 Paid: $3.30

Original: $16.00 Paid: $3.30

Original: $34.00 Paid: $5.62

Original: $20.00 Paid: $3.31

Total Value: $131.00 Total Paid: $22.13
Percentage Off: Approximately 84%

Our Macy's Haul:
Original: $28.00 Paid: $4.98

Original: $22.00 Paid: $3.98

Original: $32.00/dress, $22.00/sweater Paid: $3.50/dress, $3.82/sweater

Original: $14.00 Paid: $3.56

Original: $20.00 Paid: $3.82

Original: $12.00 Paid: $2.97

Original: $22.00 Paid: $3.99

Original: $20.00 Paid: $3.99

Original: $34.00 Paid: $4.78

Total Value: $246.00 Total Paid: $43.38
Percentage off: Approximately 83%

Kohls:

Original: $37.00 worth of bibs Paid: $5.97

Original: $30.00 Paid: $2.10

Original: $30.00 Paid: $2.80

Total Value: $97.00 Total Paid: $10.87
Percentage off: Approximately 89%

Other good deals at various stores:
Babies 'R' Us:
Original: $17.00 Paid: $2.98

Baby Gap:
Original: $22.00 Paid: $3.00

Original: $6.50/hat Paid: $.97/hat

JcPenney
Original: $20.00 Paid: $3.97

Smith's Marketplace:
Original: $34.00 Paid: $3.99

The rest are various gifts and purchases that I don't have receipts for, but wanted to post because they are cute.

From Mom:

From Jessame:

From Dylan:

Things Wes and I have purchased over the past few months:

And there may or may not be (but definitely is) a closet at home in Madison with a not-so-small collection of things I bought before we left for the summer. Do I have a sickness? Maybe.... Will our baby girl be the most well-dressed child in Wisconsin? Definitely. :) She might come out naked, but that's about the only time she'll be wanting for clothing. :)

PS: She always kicks the most when I'm out shopping. Coincidence? I think not. :) This girl is gonna take after her mama. Wes is not thrilled...though he has been pretty impressed with how much I've gotten with our money in the baby department. And let's face it: He's a huge Softie when it comes to anything to do with Baby Girl.

A Visit from the Fam

2011-07-07T15:20:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my family came to visit us here in Albuquerque. We had a great time, but it feels like it went so fast!!!

The first day, we went to the zoo.

We even spotted a lizard running across the sidewalk.At lunch, we went to Flying Star Cafe. It's kind of a local diner that makes awesome breakfast, burgers/shakes, etc. Everyone ordered burgers, fries and shakes except for me. I ordered french toast. Mmm! It was delish and just what we needed before heading over to the aquarium and the botanical gardens.

On Saturday, the boys went to the Nuclear Museum while us girls got some shopping in. Let's just say Baby Girl Frisby will be THE most well-dressed baby in the world. She may not have to wear the same outfit twice at this rate. Seriously, though, how do you pass up baby girl clothes?!??! We were scoring great deals, too. We got about 6 outfits at the Carter's store for $23.00. (That was just one of many purchases of the weekend.)

The guys at the museum:

We also spent a chunk of our weekend looking at housing developments here in Albuquerque. We are trying to get things worked out so our house can start getting built while we are at school in Madison this fall/winter, so we can move right in when we come back permanently next May.

A lot of our site-seeing plans were ruined this weekend by all the wildfires down here. Sunday we had planned to go see the petroglyphs, but the gates were all closed due to extreme fire danger. We had planned to drive up to Sandia Crest and look at the view of Albuquerque from way up high...but they'd closed the road due to (drumroll) extreme fire danger. Bummer. So we just looked at houses and spent the afternoon relaxing instead. We also braved our hotel room's mini-kitchen and made Cafe Rio salads from scratch. We're pretty awesome like that. :) They were delicious!

On the 4th of July we made pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast before heading over to the Radisson Hotel Waterpark across the street. The guys and Jessame enjoyed the wave-rider (see video in previous post), and my mom and I spent most of the morning floating around on the Lazy River.

That night we went to Five Guys for dinner. I told my parents they should order 1 or 2 orders of fries for the four of them, but I guess my mom was worried they wouldn't have enough fries (have you ever been to Five Guys?) They ended up ordering 3 orders and it came out looking like this:

My parents felt a little like this:The good news is there were (more than) enough fries to go around. :)After Five Guys we went and staked out our spot for the fireworks. The show was great and it only took us about an hour to get home through the traffic.

Tuesday was my family's final day here. Wes had to go back to work, but we spent the day getting in some last minute fun. Dad and Dylan did some more wave-riding, then we headed back over to the housing development so my dad could help us figure out which lot we should be going for, etc. That afternoon we went to the dollar-movie and saw Adjustment Bureau, and then when Wes got off of work we went to Samurai Grill for dinner.

Wednesday morning my family came over for a quick breakfast and then hit the road and made the drive back to Logan. It was a great weekend, but it went so fast! It was so fun to have my family down and show them around Albuquerque. Especially for the weekend of the 4th since it's my favorite holiday. :)

Next time we see my mom and dad will be when Baby Girl arrives in October. :) That's something to look forward to.

Waverider

2011-07-06T21:15:00.001-07:00

Dad and Dylan really enjoyed the waverider at the waterpark we went to on the 4th of July

The Rio Grande

2011-06-17T22:09:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago we went on a walk along a trail by the Rio Grande. It was a beautiful day and we got some fun pictures. :)Anyone who says Albuquerque is brown and ugly doesn't know what they are talking about.

As we were pulling back into the parking lot at the hotel, we spotted a bunny. At first he was asleep or something so we snuck up on him. He noticed pretty quickly that he was surrounded though and wasn't thrilled. But he did stick around for a little photoshoot. Probably because he was still disoriented from his nap...
Maybe he was secretly thrilled that anyone cared enough to take pictures of him. He seemed a little lonely.

Baby Update

2011-06-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

Well, we have made the plunge and started purchasing bigger items. This weekend we got our crib. It was on a killer deal on JCPenney.com and we saved $350.00 on it and got free shipping. Heck ya!

Does some nice Wisconsin-ite with a van or SUV wanna go pick it up from the West Towne mall for us next week when it comes in? :)

We went to the doctor today and had another ultrasound. They told me to go with a full bladder, but I don't think I really needed to. There were signs in the office that said if you are past 14 weeks they don't need you to have a full bladder. Well, lame. Because it was uncomfortable to hold it for that long, and my big ol' bladder squished her poor baby face so we couldn't get a good 3-D picture. The ultrasound tech (who by the way is pretty grouchy) tried 3 or 4 times to get a decent 3-D image of her face, but it was just squooshed, and you couldn't see anything. :(

We did get a few okay shots though...

Foot (long and skinny like Wes's)
Profile (kind of) and arm
Chubby bum and legs
and her favorite position (hands by face). We have a picture almost identical to this one from her last ultrasound.
Baby is measuring right on schedule (except her legs are a week ahead thanks to her gigantor parents). She is 1 lb 6 oz. :)

She has also been kicking like crazy for a couple of weeks now, which is fun. Must be those long legs... :)

Vampires are so pale and disgusting...

2011-06-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

I love this commercial:

Hiking, spicy food, and baby update.

2011-05-28T19:56:00.001-07:00

Today we had some errands to run and then we decided we wanted to drive up to Sandia Crest...which is a 10,000 ft mountain with steep overlooks down onto Albuquerque. It was a beautiful drive, and we got out and walked around and took some pictures of the view. We even went on a little hike...well it was more of a walk down a trail, but it counts as a hike to me. :)

Wes isn't really this fat...his shirt kept catching air. The wind up that high is pretty insane...
I, on the other hand, really am this fat.
We spotted a roadrunner in the parking lot when we went to the bank today. He was pretty cool...but he wouldn't let me get very close. And at one point he turned around, stuck his tailfeathers in the air, and pooped in my general direction. So I don't think he was thrilled I was following him.
Tonight we went to Sadie's for dinner. It's a local favorite here in Albuquerque. We went there once last year, but it was right after we got here and I was way less adventurous when it came to the red/green chile situation, so I ended up ordering a burrito with just meat and cheese and no sauce. It was pretty bland....but since then I've adapted to the spiciness of New Mexican cuisine, and today I ordered a Stuffed Sopapilla with Carne Adovada pork and red chile. It was DELICIOUS and HUGE. Half of it came home with me, but oh my word, delish!!! And seriously, sopapillas are to die for. (They are basically scones only better. SO good with honey!)So far that's about the most eventful stuff we've done since we got here to Albuquerque. Wes has been working hard, and I've been mostly chilling at our hotel. I'm getting pretty attached to TLC, I must admit....I should probably branch out. Sometimes I watch the Food Network, which can be exciting. I am working on sewing projects, but so far I haven't made much progress.

Oh, I had an doctor's appointment on Thursday (20 weeks+4 days) and met with my new doctor that will be seeing me while I'm in town for the summer. He was nice...and he even let me get a quick ultrasound to double-check the gender of the baby since our big ultrasound in Madison wasn't super-conclusive in the gender department. They were just kind of like, "Well, I don't see boy parts, so it's probably a girl..." but she never really opened up her legs so we could really check. SO this doc did a check and confirmed her "girl parts," so we're all a go. We have a GIRL on the way for sure, and we're getting really excited! (Is it just me or does October seem like a ka-jillion years away?????)

This picture is so my mom can see what I mean when I say that they saw "girl parts." Girls have three lines. (This isn't our actual ultrasound pic, but it looks similar.)boy parts look like a turtle:
We do not have boy parts happening. So you can all officially start buying pink!!