I've neglected this blog long enough. I'm not sure why, but I was feeling an aversion to blogging. I love to read others blogs, just could never find the time to blog myself. We've got a lot of time to catch up on....so let's get started.
The last time I blogged was March 2011. A LOT has changed since then. We'll start with a quick run down of 2011, I will try to include pictures to the corresponding months:
April 2011: I finished my internship at Green Valley HS and started working on summer training for the City of Henderson lifeguarding/WSI programs.
May 2011: We get to go up to Salt Lake City for the blessing of our darling niece, Maylijean. We get to spend several days with the Clemons family and Chloe soaks up every minute of attention. I "officially" graduate with my Master's Degree in Guidance and School Counseling...next step is to get licensed. I received my Degree in the mail and being done with school never felt better! Lance finished up his 2nd semester at UNLV and begins summer courses. We have one less thing on our plates- but summer is about to begin and I am super busy working part-time (not really) for the City. Lance receives a new calling into the Elder's Quorum presidency; I receive a new calling as a Sunbeam teacher.
June 2011: Myself, Lance, Chloe, my mom and dad travel to Washington D.C. for our graduation ceremony from APU. My mom and I worked on our counseling degrees at the same time and graduated at the same time. It was really cool. Chloe was wonderful on our trip despite the fact that she came down with a cold and was sick most of the time. Lance also got sick with Pneumonia on the last day we were there. It was a fun, crazy, adventurous trip. We had a blast visiting the sites in D.C. for 6 days. Chloe started walking about one week before we left. She is so cute! I also interviewed for the candidate pool with CCSD and with a charter school- Nevada Virtual Academy -to be a school counselor.
July 2011: We attended the Boulder City 4th of July parade and had a blast! Chloe got her first experience with sparklers that evening. I got a job! As a counselor! Woohoo! I start halfway through July and am thrown into the thick of things. Nevada Virtual Academy is an online public charter school. Students attend grades k-12 COMPLETELY online. My days as a pool manager are over and I begin my career that took me 7 years to finish school for.
August 2011: We're in the thick of the beginning of the school year. My mom volunteers to watch Chloe while Lance and I both work. We find a wonderful babysitter, Vicki, and Chloe starts going to her house full time. Lance begins fall semester at UNLV- the end is closer than it was a year ago! Chloe and I go to Cedar Mountain with my family- it's Chloe's first and it was a little chilly.
September 2011: I find out that my job is going virtual. MEANING- I get to work from home several days a week and go into the office 2 days a week. Chloe gets to be at home with me. It is an interesting transition, but we are so grateful that I am able to be at home with Chloe while pursuing my career. Chloe LOVES going to Vicki's house and we are now on a part-time babysitting schedule- we rotate 2 days one week, 3 days the next, and so on. We visited the Las Vegas temple and it was starting to cool off in the evenings! So strange for Las Vegas in the September.
October 2011: We move out of my parent's home, which they graciously shared with us for 15 months and move into a 2 bedroom condo in Green Valley. We stayed in the same ward, because we loved it and are happy to have our own space again. I especially love using my kitchen equipment that was packed away in storage for so long. I am released as a Sunbeam teacher and am given a new calling as the Primary Pianist. It has turned out to be my favorite calling- ever! I get to practice the piano to improve my talent while also spending some time in Primary. We make a trip up to Salt Lake for Lance's cousin's mission "farewell" and get to spend time with the Clemons/Anderson clan. It was beautiful weather. We celebrated Halloween at our ward's trunk or treat. We wouldn't tell anyone what Chloe was going to be...Chloe was an ice cream cone and Lance and I were "soda jerks". It was coordinated and it took a lot of effort to come up with!
November 2011: We take Chloe EARLY to get her picture taken with Santa. We learned from our mistake the year before in having to wait in line for 1 1/2 hours with a baby. This time we went the first weekend he was at the mall and encountered...no line, at all. We got a lot of time with him, which was convenient considering Chloe wasn't too pleased with the situation. This is clear on her expression in the picture below :) We celebrate Thanksgiving with the Stewart family. Nana Stephanie bought Chloe an apron to wear so that she can help cook the meal. This is the beginning of Chloe's "cooking" interests (I'll get to that later). We have a delicious meal and a good time with the family. Jared/Krista- my brother and sister- come home from college.
December 2011: It's the holidays and we get to decorate our condo! Chloe is fascinated with decorating the tree and to our surprise- leaves it alone once it's decorated. She loves looking at the lights and pointing to the houses that are lit up from the car. We went to Opportunity Village and Chloe was not a fan of walking around the Enchanted Forest, however, she LOVED riding on the train and we did that a few times while we were there. We spend Christmas with the Clemons clan. I got the stomach flu on Christmas Eve (so it was pretty much a wash) and then Chloe got the stomach flu the day after Christmas! We were so grateful no one was sick on Christmas day and we had a lovely time with the family. Chloe loves opening presents and helping everyone else open theirs. We were truely blessed with our family's generosity and grateful for the time we got to spend with them. Chloe and I spend our Winter Vacation with the Clemons family who had flown in from Florida and driven down from Salt Lake. She loved being around so many people...especially her cousins.
January 2012: It's a new year and we're thrown back into school/work/and Lance's new internship! He was able to get an internship with the Human Resources department of the St. Rose hospitals. He is super excited to get some experience and meet people in his field of study. This solidifies his choice to go to school for an MHA (Master's of Healthcare Administration). Thank goodness! We celebrate many birthday's in our families, but most importantly- Chloe's 2nd Birthday and my 26th Birthday. We threw a classy Elmo-themed birthday party and invited all of Chloe's friends (and some of our friends too). It was so much fun and Chloe got a kick out of singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candle on her cupcake.
February 2012: Honestly, nothing exciting happened this month. Sad to say, but just a regular work/school/internship/parenting month. Oh! I take that back, Jared got his mission call to Mozambique! Same mission as Taylor! We later found out that he will be spending his time in Angola...crazy! It caught his first reaction. Also, Chloe had her first experience actually touching snow. She didn't like it at first, but then she got used to it and loved it.
March 2012: We find out we're expecting #2 towards the end of the month and are super excited! It is due December 2, 2012. I really hope we have a baby by Thanksgiving, though :) Chloe is singing A LOT and talking A LOT. You can have a full-fledged conversation with her. She also LOVES to cook. I mean, LOVES it. She pretends to cook and then will feed her babies. She has memorized several nursery rhyme songs and primary songs. We usually have family sing-a-longs in the car. She will break out into song at any moment. What I'll remember most from this age is her love of cooking and love of singing.
April 2012: Spring Break! We go up to Salt Lake City to visit family- Lance's brother and his dad/stepmother are in town. It is conference weekend and we enjoy just hanging out with family and chatting with Lance's aunt and uncle. Lance and I leave on a little "getaway" the day after we get back from SLC. Lance's cousin was living just outside of San Francisco and let us stay with her for a few days. We had so much fun spending time together and exploring the city. It was definitely a needed and well-deserved mini vacation for the two of us. We celebrate Easter and decide to let our families in on our little secret. However, they are ALL sworn to secrecy until June 1st.
Easter Morning...Chloe receives a book, bubble machine, swimming suit and lots of chocolate! She gets to go on the Easter morning egg hunt.
Easter Sunday Family Pictures
May 2012: The weather is warming up. Lance finishes his internship and spends a few weeks at home working on obtaining another internship. He takes Chloe to the park several times and she loves going down the slides! I get surgery on my cervix and am on bedrest for 3 days, and then light duty for 2 more weeks. It wasn't easy, but the baby is doing great. Her vocabulary and pronunciation continues to amaze us and she can put complete simple sentences together. When we undress her for bathtime, she'll yell out, "OH SHOOT, MAN, I'M NAKED!!" It is hilarious. She loves to snuggle, read books (her favorite is currently The Duckling Gets a Cookie, from the pigeon series), drink chocolate milk, cook, sing, play the piano, cook, cook, and cook some more. She's a little obsessed with cooking. We are thinking about investing in a cute play kitchen for Christmas this year...don't you think that's a good idea? AND Chloe gets her first haircut!!!
June 2012: And finally this brings us to today. We decide to publicly announce that we are expecting baby #2! We find out what we're having in a couple weeks. I am currently 15 weeks as I write this post. Lance taught Chloe how to float in the pool about a week ago and we're determined to have her swimming by the end of the summer. She is a water baby through and through and loves going to the pool. Thankfully, we have several at our disposal. Nana Sharon, Nana Stephanie and Papa D, and our complex all have pools! My brother, Jared, entered the MTC for his mission on May 30th and we look forward to getting his letters. My other brother, Taylor, is going to be home on September 11th from his mission. Crazy how much time flies by! We love living in Henderson and enjoy all of the time we get to spend with both sides of our families. We are truely blessed. This month, hopefully, we find out what we're having...so stay tuned!
Sorry for the blurry floating picture, but I have to act quick...notice where Lance's hands are. No where near our 2-yr-old. She's one brave little girl and loved every minute of it!
I promise that I will try to keep this blog updated...it is my mid-year's resolution.
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