4 month checkup

Chloe is 4 months old today!

 Crazy! She is growing so fast. I can't believe it has already been that long!

She has her doctors appointment today and she is growing and developing so good. She is 14 and a half pounds (which is the 50-75%) and 26 inches long (95-98%). She is most definitely teething and she got her shots today too. She did so great, we really do have such a happy girl. 

Because she is so talented at getting out of her swaddle (which we do super tight and she still gets out), and because she is rolling over we were told to stop swaddling and let her sleep completely free. So today we are cutting her off cold turkey. Cross your fingers that she will still sleep.

Lately she has been waking up every hour if not more (I think because of her teething). The last two nights Chloe was up every 20 minutes, which made for a very sleepy mama. I might be going crazy from lack of sleep. It's a good thing she is so cute. 

Chloe has napped a little today, first time not swaddled, she rolled to her tummy first thing and cried herself to sleep after about 20 minutes. Her bum was up in the air and her thumb in her mouth. 

(just for the record, it is not that hot in her room, the temperature always says its hotter than it is)

Every time we lay her down now, she quickly rolls to her belly and tucks those knees up. How long until she can crawl? She wants to so bad. You can tell she gets frustrated that she's not mobile yet.  

Pierced Ears

I met up with Amy and Joey at the mall yesterday and we got Chloe's ears pierced. I love it. I have always thought little girls with pierced ears are too cute. My mom got my sisters and my ears done when we were little and I wanted to keep that tradition going. I am so happy with the way they turned out and the lady who did it was so nice. 

Darling, don't you think?

Visit from the Jones'

This past week we were lucky to have Charlie, Cooper, and Berkley visit on their way to Idaho. It was crazy to see how much Cooper and Berkley changed. They are getting so big but they are such sweeties. 

While they were here, we went to Airplane park.

We had tons of fun with lots of family... MacKenzie, Charlie, Cooper, Berkley, Amy, Kiesen, Sean, Kadin, Lucky, Joey, Jessah, Parks, Carly, and Ms. Chloe and myself. It was a fun packed afternoon with lots of stories and catching up. 

Berkley was so cute with Chloe. It seemed she was always by Chloe's side. Berkley would share her toys with her, try to help me while changing her diapers, and would cheer her up if she was crying. It was just too sweet. 

You can tell that they love their cousins. It was so sad seeing Cooper and Joey say goodbye at the end of their trip. They became the best of buds. I sure can't wait to see their family again. Miss them already!

Drool, Burns, and Goodbyes

 I feel like so much has happened over the past month, but at the same time, nothing seems to change day to day. It's crazy how that happens. Chloe has been sucking and gumming at everything she can get in her mouth, which makes for a lot of drool. She has also found her feet and is able to roll from her back onto her belly. 

I know this is ridiculous, but even though I have heard over and over again that no mom is perfect, everybody makes mistakes, and accidents just happen sometimes, I had higher expectations for myself. I was going to prove everyone wrong. I was going to be the "perfect" mother, I was going to get everything right the first time. HA HA HA. Yeah right. What in the world was I thinking. Holding myself to those expectations has only stressed me out and left me feeling disappointed and not good enough. Well, I'm over it (I hope). I have realized how impractical it is to have such high expectations. 

Well, about a week and a half ago, I had myself convinced I was the worst mom. I was getting so down on myself because of one accident. I had given Chloe a bath, and she loves her bath time. She was being so great, even while I washed her face and dried her off. There were no tears at all. So I decided to follow the advice I got in an email newsletter for moms. Babies LOVE being rubbed down with warm lotion. The newsletter said to put the bottle of lotion in the microwave for 10 seconds to heat up the lotion. Now, most people would realize this meant a regular sized bottle but not me. I know, I should have known better, but what can I do now. It wasn't even a regular travel size bottle I used, it was even smaller, the sample size bottle. OOPPS! 

I have learned my lesson, if I plan to put WARM lotion on Chloe, I will either heat it up in a bowl of warm water, or just rub it between my hands to heat it up a bit. When I went to poor the lotion in my hand, it came out like water and was super hot. It burned my hands. I threw the bottle and my hands in the air, and unfortunately, two big splotches of lotion landed on Chloe. It burned her perfect, soft skin.

 It blistered and popped, but ended up healing pretty quickly. You can imagine how awful I felt though. When I told my family, I was told story after story about how things like this happen to everyone. But my plan to prove everyone wrong about me being different fell through. I am so blessed with a sweet girl though. After she got through the initial pain and shock, I got her calmed down and it didn't bother her again. She was just as full of smiles and giggles as ever, and thank goodness or I don't think I would have ever been able to forgive myself.  It's a good thing she is too young to remember this or hold a grudge too or I am sure I would be in big trouble. 

Today has been a particularly rough day so far. It is finally slowly turning around, but this morning was hard. Since Chloe can roll over, she is doing it all the time, the only problem is that once she does, she gets frustrated and screams because she hasn't figured out how to get back onto her back yet. Well, she was rolling over in her crib all night, and this morning, about every 30 minutes to an hour, she would wake up screaming because she rolled over and couldn't get back. So, first the lack of sleep is hard enough. Then, when I went to change her diaper, she decided it was time to poop, so I waited and figured I would nurse her first. Well, her diaper was already full, then she pooped, and to top it off, she decided she needed to pee again. So it all came out and covered her and me and our pillow. Once I got us both all cleaned up, she decided she was not happy. Lots and lots of crying and screaming. We went for a walk because that normally calms her down, and it did, however, it didn't make her any less grumpy!

She was glaring at me and giving me dirty looks the whole way. After the walk, we headed over to my parents to say goodbye to my little sister who is leaving for FHSU today! It was so sad, lots of tears. Kelsey has been so great with Chloe and is so sad to have to leave. She will do great but we will all miss having her here. This summer, she has probably been Chloe's #1 babysitter. She has been so patient with her and Chloe sure loves Kelsey too. 

Good luck Kelsey! We love you and will see you soon!