Monday, August 5, 2013

Eagle, Colorado

Last week Chloe and I took a short day trip to the mountains to visit my sister Courtney who lives in Eagle. We went with my mom and other sister, Kelsey. It was a girls day out and we all had lots of fun. Chloe found a bike that she loved. She was full of smiles and so proud of herself while on it.  When it was time to go though she wasn't too happy to have to get off. 




She also had a chance to meet her first horse. Courtney has had Dancer for about 10 or 11 years now. He is a sweetheart. We were all anxious to see what Chloe thought of him. She seemed to really enjoy the horses until the moved. I think because they are so much bigger than her it made her a little nervous.






Even if Chloe was a little unsure about these big new animals, they seemed to like her. Dancer bent down and smothered her with kisses and snuggles. He even let her sit on him a little.


 After lunch at the Dusty Boot we did a little shopping in Downtown Eagle (which is so small that if you blink you might miss it). Then we headed to a park to let Chloe stretch out her legs and play.





Grandma and Aunt Kelsey entertained her on the swing, which she is finally starting to enjoy. All in all it was a good but fast trip.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Catch Up

It has been a few months since I have posted anything, probably because things have been so busy and crazy. I have been all over the place with different emotions lately. Scott hasn't been healthy since at least the beginning of the year. He gets sick or injured and by the time that starts to get better something else comes around. He had a cold which turned into bronchitis. Bronchitis turned into pneumonia, and pneumonia turned into pleurisy. That lasted months, in fact, his cough has still not gone away completely. In the past few weeks alone he has had chest, shoulder, and jaw pain. He also managed to roll his ankle at work. I can't help but feel sad and wish I knew more that I could do to help him feel better. Hopefully before long he will be back to normal. 
Work has also been crazy for him. He was promoted to branch manager, which is awesome, however the promotion came at the start of the busiest time of the year. He also followed an old manager who didn't exactly do their job. He has had quite the mess to clean up and has been so stressed. There were days after days where he never had the chance to see Chloe. I hardly saw him. He would leave for work first thing in the morning (around 6) and wouldn't get home until midnight or later. This made for little to no sleep. When he does sleep he dream of work and the stresses that wait for him the next day. He was working over 80 hour weeks. It was hard on all of us. 
I would like to add really quick how even though it has been tough and we haven't had hardly any time together it has brought me closer to Scott. It has given me more respect and love for him. I know that the only reason he works so hard is for Chloe and I. How could I not love, appreciate, and admire someone who is willing to put everything they have into doing whatever it takes to keep us happy?! He is truly wonderful!
Things are finally calming down a little. His hours are getting better and will continue to get better in the fall. We will have more time as a family and a lot less stress (crossing my fingers).
Those late nights when Scott and I would have a little time together, both exhausted, it was pretty interesting to see what happened. For example, one night Scott decided to draw a mustache on my face, and apparently I was too tired to stop him. 
I know it is times like this, even though they are hard now, that I will look back on with fond memories one day. I will remember the blessings it brought us and the love we have for each other. 

We did have a chance one day to go to the aquarium. I had never been before and I loved it. Chloe seemed to enjoy herself as well. She loved otters but was terrified of the sharks. She also got startled by a parrot and mechanical orangoutang. She was in awe with all the different animals and water though. 







We also had a chance on the forth of July to go to cornerstone park and watch some fireworks. We went with my sister Kelsey too. Chloe stayed up way past her bedtime to watch the fireworks. It ended up being a good experience. I was nervous she would be too sleepy and the loud sounds of the show would scare her forcing us to leave early, but she enjoyed it all. 


We might just have a new tradition starting with how well it went this year. 

Chloe is getting so big and is busy busy busy. She is constantly running around and climbing on everything. I'm pretty sure she has a sixth sense for finding trouble. She keeps my on my toes but I love it all.


She discovered the hose and it is her favorite thing to play with now. She loves the water more than I thought anyone could. She has no fear of getting her face wet or the ice cold water. In fact sometimes I think the colder the better for her. 


She always finds my laundry basket, dumps anything out of it that is in it (no matter how heavy it is), and flips it over. She then proceeds to push it against anything and everything she could climb onto. I found her watching mickey mouse like this one day. She is a little too close to the tv in my opinion, but I had to stop and take a picture before getting her down. 

My little princess. She is getting so big, and has so much personality.



She also discovered the rain. She went out while it was down pouring and loved it. She was soaked and shivering like crazy but she didn't want to stop. 


We also went to a fun park not too far from home and Chloe played in a splash pad for the first time.



Grandma bought Chloe her first happy meal. She loved it. Especially the very tiny box of fries. She continued to hold the box and pulled out one french fry at a time until they were gone. 



Eating a flower. 


She waves at anyone and everyone. She will say hi and if they ignore her or don't respond she will continue to scream hi until she gets a response she likes. 


Chloe is learning new words everyday and is growing so fast. She makes me so happy but I wish she would slow down just a little. Everyone says "you blink and she will be all grown up". I am feeling bits and pieces of that everyday. 




Gotta love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She knows the characters and gets super excited anytime we turn it on for her. 











Thursday, April 25, 2013

Surgery

Chloe has had a bump on her neck since birth. We asked the doctor about it, set up a CAT Scan, and yesterday she had it surgically removed. They thought it was a bronchial cleft remnant (which is kind of like a cyst), but realized during the procedure it was cartilage from her ear. When babies are developing, their ears start under their chin and slowly moves up into the proper position. Part of hers got left behind causing a lump in her neck and it was getting infected. It also went deeper into her neck than they had previously thought. Luckily for us, there wasn't any pus or drainage so she got to come home that day with us. We were told beforehand that we would be staying the night. We were so glad to hear that we would be aloud to go home instead.

The surgery was scheduled for 9am, we had to check in at 7am. We woke up at 5 and left early to go to Apple Ridge for some breakfast, thinking Chloe would nap the whole time. We were wrong. She was wide awake. We gave her a little ice (since she could have water until 6am) while we ate, then we headed to Children's Hospital. We got checked in and were sent back right away for PreOp. She was in a great mood; poor girl had no idea what was coming. She was walking all over exploring, playing with toys, and loved sitting in the rocking chair. After being wide awake for several hours, Chloe finally got tired enough to take a quick nap. After checking her vitals, a quick physical to make sure she was healthy enough to go back, marking her neck, and visiting with the doctors, surgeon, and anesthesiologists we were able to go back. Around 9:30 we went back with her and were able to be there while she was put under. Scott held her as she breathed in the laughing gas. She did great. Then we waiting in the waiting room until she was done. We went back before she woke up, but they had already taking the breathing tube out. After waking up it took her a while to calm down, but once she did she downed a sippy full of water and had some apple juice too. She was really thirsty. She fell back asleep for a while. We had a doctor come double check her neck and we were released shortly after.







Where they marked her neck to make sure they performed surgery in the right spot.


No idea what is about to happen. 

Before she woke up after surgery.




Her neck afterwords. :(

About to go home. Scotty got her a little sock monkey for doing so great. She loved it and has been snuggling it, giving it hugs and kisses, and playing with it since. 



I am so glad to have this behind us. It will take her a few days to fully recover but she is doing great. She is taking medicine for pain along with an antibiotic. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers. She is doing great but has been really tired, which is understandable. Otherwise she is eating well and is so happy. She doesn't seem to be in too much pain. Thank goodness.