:butt:

:melting with a donkey:

i think that we are officially spent. 2 more days until moving and things seem a bit much. we are trying to move forward with strength and stamina, but it can b difficult with a kid who is honking like a donkey every ten seconds and a landlord that is threatening to take away money.

alas, the place is nearly packed, the landlord is being taken care of and we made great progress in changing our address today. tomorrow morning we get the keys and can rest a bit easier.

as for chloe, she's the same. like i mentioned, her new favorite thing is to grab things and then let them go, and to make this awful honking noise that sounds like a choking donkey. i hope this is short lived. today, jared and i were eating lunch while she sat in her chair, which i always pull up to the table for her to be a part of the action. whenever we eat, she seems to get very quiet and pensive, staring at us with great intensity. it's almost like she's jealous of our big people food that she can't be a part of. anyway, she was pulling that same routine today, but with a twist. we were both chewing our jalapeno and goat cheese burgers when she made the most devious face at us by narrowing her little eyes for just a second as if to say, "you sneaky bastards." we both just started laughing, but then realized this was the foreshadowing of things to come. our little angel has a sin nature. of course, she probably didn't realize what she was doing, but you could've sworn that she was an immature, manipulative adult in the body of a 4 1/2 month old baby.

anyway, continued prayers for our moving/landlord situation would be much appreciated.

xoxo

:waddle out of the swaddle:

as we prepare to move, the sleepiness seems to mount.

although chloe has been much less fussy the past few days, her nighttime sleep continues to be sporadic. sometimes she'll sleep through the night; sometimes nearly through it; and sometimes, she'll be up 2 or 3 times. thankfully, she seems to favor the wake up once routine, and then she'll sleep until 7:30 or 8. i'm content with that, as i still get a good 7-8 hours over the course of the night. i'm hoping that maybe she'll be better once she's in her own room, her own crib and without the bathroom noise in the mornings.

we can't wait to move. it can't seem to get here fast enough. we could certainly use prayer as we move out and then in, and also for our current landlord situation, which has been less than ideal.

jared and i had a date while my mom and sister melody (who came out on a last minute visit) watched the babe. we went to see a movie with our passes (regal cinemas, which limits our choices). since everything that's out seems to be incredibly violent or for 5 year olds, we ended up seeing the pursuit of happyness.

i found it very difficult to watch. i was on the verge of tears the entire movie, and felt very anxious. if you haven't seen the movie, i may spoil it a bit, so beware. although we are blessed enough to be in a situation where we probably wouldn't have all the same struggles as this man and his kid, i just kept picturing chloe's face and how i would approach those same situations with her, if that ever happened. if i had seen that movie before having a child, it wouldn't have been anywhere near the same. the desire to protect and provide for one's child is so innate, so strong. i felt this intense urge to protect her innocence and her safety. i felt scared, wondering how it would be if something tragic happened. while the main character made some less than wise choices, i still felt such a pang over the responsibility of being a parent. it is so lovely and rewarding and beautiful, and yet, such a burden. that sounds sort of bad, but it's not. it's just life i guess; part of living in a fallen world. i've never had such a pure (as pure as human love can be) love for anything. it's always humbling.

:oh the long nights:

this has been a very trying week for us, particularly me.

chloe is fussing and likely teething. her shrill, painful screams have echoed through this small condo with a fierceness that we are ready to leave behind. thankfully it's not continuous. her sleeping sucks. 2 nights ago, she was waking up every 3 hours. last night was better, sleeping a good 7 hours before waking at 5:30am, and then returning to sleep for 3 more hours.

and yet, even though she has tested us this week, she has had some wonderful moments like the following, where she does this funny dancing on the bathroom counter. it was hilarious. it's hard to see in the photos, but as soon as her bare feet hit the counter, she started moving all around, dancing, trying to walk or something. she seemed to love it.

she continues to roll the moment i put her down. i can't keep her on her back now. no crawling, although she's definitely getting those motions perfected.

despite all the stuff going on, she's still an exceptional baby. we had to run errands yesterday and she didn't make a peep the entire time. she actually went to sleep. she seems to get mesmerized by the outside world. what a good kid.

:a babysitter, maybe?:

i begin training for the marathon on saturday, feb. 3...at 7 AM! jared has to work that morning and i'm afraid that this meeting would not really be appropriate for little chloe.

if there is anyone brave enough and awake enough to watch chloe that morning (at our new place!), please contact me. it would probably just be a couple hours, some of which she would sleep.

i would greatly appreciate it as i don't want to miss the first meeting!

thanks so much.

:the cold truth:

she may be teething...we have yet to see a tooth, but there has been much to fuss about.

here are some shots of chloe trying to eat the teething butterfly thing. she really likes the cold, spongy mass of plastic.
i miss being creative with photography. you'd think i would take more photos. honestly, i miss film. this digital stuff just isn't the same...

:the fuss:

my gosh...go to sleep already. this fuss phase has got to come to and end...soon.

she's getting bored too easily and way too used to us waiting on her hand and foot. we're exhausted.

here's a couple more photos from last week.

one is chloe with all my aunts, and some random guy that snuck in the photo.

the other is jared and i during one of our few baby-less moments.

:follow-up:

just a quick link to the donation website for the marathon i will be running in june.

Kelly's Donation Page

once again, i am running as a part of the team in training, which supports the leukemia and lymphoma society.
as a part of this team, i will receive extensive, necessary training for 18 weeks leading up to the marathon.

this is a great cause to give to, and i am proud to represent this cause as i run. i hope you all will check out the website for more information before you give.

thank you very much!

Team In Training

:the beast that cries in the night:

chloe is a giant. we took her to the NP for her 4 month √ up and she is now 16 lbs. 11 oz. we asked how she stacked up to other babies her age and man does she ever STACK up. she's in the 90th percentile range. crazy. she's just a little wee breast fed angel. i guess she is big, but i have nothing to really compare her to and i see her everyday. she just sort of looks the same to me.

she also got her second round of shots which was not fun. poor jared looked particularly disturbed over the whole thing. it is pretty awful to watch.

the good part, i guess, is that she was so tired yesterday, she slept for 12 consecutive hours. i thought about getting up once to pump, but decided against it. i was enjoying the spongy bed a little too much.

on other brief notes, which aren't really chloe related, i am now signed up with team in training to run the rock 'n' roll marathon 3 june 2007. thus, i will need donations. i will be setting up a webpage to accept online donations, and will let ya'll know more soon. i was originally doing it to get back in shape and finish a marathon, but after hearing about the great cause it is for, i am very proud to be a part of it. check out the team in training site for more info. www.teamintraining.org

cheers to all.

:4 months:

every month that goes by, i am more amazed at how time really does fly. a child's progression from purple little dumpling just born to smiling, laughing, rolling baby is quite remarkable. and today is no exception. chloe is officially four months old.

the weekend was eventful. jared was fortunate to have 2 days off in a row, and they were saturday and sunday. it was nice to have a sort of normal weekend.

on saturday we drove up to LA to spend time with family and friends at my grandma ana's house for aunt robin's 50th birthday. catch all that? i have a lot of family. we weren't so sure how chloe would handle the bombardment of people due to her recent stranger danger phase she's fallen into. thankfully, she was a perfect angel. we bought one of those play yard deals to take with us so she could nap safely. it was a lifesaver. people couldn't get enough of her and kept telling us how beautiful she is and what a good baby she is. i can't lie...they are absolutely right. but then again, i may be a bit partial. she even tolerated the very loud, but cool, live salsa band that played. although, she enjoyed it more from behind a closed door. we were so proud of our little bun and so thrilled to introduce her to new family. she's a joy to everyone.

this photo of great grandma ana and chloe is probably one of my favorites (photo by me):



sunday, jared and i were able to slip off to see roman holiday at the north park theatre for a few hours. tia emily was kind enough to watch chloe, who, according to all reports, did very well. and of course, mom and dad enjoyed the much needed break and basked in the culture of city life. i still missed her.

but, the big news of the weekend is that chloe has finally mastered the art of rolling from back to stomach. now she can just start rolling around everywhere. it's not the most fluid roll in the world, and once she gets to her stomach, she's pretty pissed about it. she's still mastering the full roll. in time. we were so proud.

and on other random notes, here's me and chloe catching some must needed morning sleep following an AM feeding. any resemblace?


the following are some more photos from our weekend up north, taken by my dad. the one under the pepper tree with catalina in the background is where jared and i were married, dec. 3, 2005. the one with my dad, ana, me and chloe is special because of the 4 generations represented. it was a lovely time.

:look at me...i'm doin' stuff:

this kid is amazing. sleeping through the night and keeping her head up like a big girl.

we were so proud the other night when we watched her roll over from stomach to back 3 times in a row! it was kinda funny because she hates her tummy, and as soon as i put her on her stomach, she rolled. she figured it out.

she's starting to dig other toys than her little lion, which is good for her learning.

we've found that she's most intrigued by sounds, particularly music or singing. of course, we love that because music is our thing.

she's so much fun.

here's some photos of chloe showing her skills.

:chloe sundial:

first of all, neil diamond has the longers ears ever.

ok, now that that's out of the way, chloe is like 2 seconds away from scooting. but as a part of her scooting efforts, she turns like the hands of a clock. i'm not quite sure how it happens, but when i put her down and then return a couple minutes later, she's gone like 180 degrees. she can get her neck all the way up when she's on her tummy and she'll look around like, "why the hek are you laying me down like this?"

silly kid.

:living green & sleeping is keen:

cheesy rhymes.

so, check out this site for some great tips on living a greener life. thanks to KCRW for the tip. the resources are out there people. use them!

and thank the Lord that chloe returned to a full night of sleep last night. it's been a couple weeks since she's had that. i think us being sick and coughing and her eczema flaring up were irritating her. let's hope she has another 9:30pm-7am sleep fest tonight.

that's all.

cheers from the schauermann abode.

:Christmas and beyond:

we really haven't had a chance to post about Christmas. so, here it is, along with a bunch of photos.

it was fast. starbucks is not conducive with family time. we know that. wish it were different, but it just is. we left sunday night, the eve of Christmas, and spent Christmas day and the day after with my parents, sisters, gamma, freddie and charmagne. it was nice to be home, but i was sick. i seemed to get sicker while i was there and eventually lost my voice, which i hadn't done before. thankfully, chloe has not been sick yet.
we got some good goodies and chloe got her share, too. chloe was obviously the favorite. tia melody and tio freddie hadn't seen her since the weekend of her birth. they were clearly thrilled.
we were able to spend some good time with great gamma, too. she's been having a bit of a rough time so it was nice to share chloe with her. she's very special!

since Christmas, it seems like we've just been going. jared hasn't had a day off since we got back from vegas and i've been trying to work, clean, pack, shop and all those various homemaker duties. i don't know where the days go. i thought i might actually get bored. ha. i don't know what i was thinking.

chloe has been on the verge of flipping from back to stomach. following is a photo of her trying. she's starting to actually figure out that she can push with her foot. but she gets frustrated when she's unable to turn over. she made it all the way on her side, but just couldn't quite swing over. soon enough.

one month from today, we'll be in a new home. we can't wait. this place, and our landlord are turning into a nightmare. more on that another time.

until next, have a blessed new year.

xoxo.