Funny and not so funny

Yesterday while at the Dillon's here in town (which has a post office feature and is much more easy to use than the actual post office) I saw a US postal worker asking the woman at the counter how much a book of 20 stamps were. I started laughing and the postal worker said, "I don't know how much stamps cost and the post office is always closed by the time I get off work." We both had a good laugh. I wish I would have had my camera to capture the moment, it really cracked me up. That was my funny for yesterday. Today I had a not so funny because of my desire to save a buck and not reading directions. After my 6 week post-partum check we decided to go back on birth control and I started it that day. I got some free samples from my doc and had a free sample left from before the baby was born. So I used the one from before baby and today my cycle started at a weird time. After some investigation I realized that I had been using EXPIRED birth control for the last 3 weeks-HOLY COW!!! B and I both breathed a sigh of relief when we realized that I was not pregnant but very easily could have been. OH MY, OH MY!!! Thank you Jesus for protecting us despite my ignorance and desire to save some $.

2 months

Chloe turned 2 months yesterday. She had her stats taken and weighed in at 11 lbs. 6 oz. and 23 3/4 inches tall. She is doing great and was a trooper when given 2 shots. She is sleeping in her crib 5-7 hours before needing a early morning feeding and going back to bed for about 3 hours. So, we are sleeping between 6-8 hours most nights. It is amazing for all 3 of us! We are constantly amazed at how she is growing and changing and we can't get over how cute she is. We are in love!

Smiles

Well, I finally got some pictures of Chloe smiling this afternoon. I love this smiling baby! She is really too sweet for words. I was walking this morning and passed by the elementary school and thought of all my friends talking their children back to school and to kindergarten today. I know it will come fast for Chloe and I am treasuring these moments of smiles and cuddles. Five or Six years from now I will be crying as send her off to school. I took these pictures in sequence, gives you that flip-book feel hopefully.

The new place in town...

The big news in the little apple this week is the opening of our very on Hy-Vee grocery store. I love new things that come to our town and even something as simple as a grocery store makes me excited. I haven't closely followed all of the controversy about development, I know there is some. I am pro local businesses and I am pro development. I think I can be both things. It might be because I am a 'city' girl at heart, but when I walked in to Hy-Vee today it was so exciting. There were so many people and there was this since that we were all experiencing something new together for the first time in our community. There were free samples galore, gobbs of employees ready to help you, and so many products that are hard to come by in our little town. Though overwhelming for some, it was very engergizing and exciting. People were actually talking to each other and it really was like a social event for this community. I know that it will just become a grocery store soon, loose it's newness in this place, but it sure was a fun way to spend my afternoon.

Parenting and Paci's

This is what a lot of my computer time looks like these days. I am actually typing with both hands right now, which is rare. I have become quite skilled at navigating with one hand. I'm not holding Chloe all the time, but sometimes when I am, it is a good time to catch up on blogs. Not much is new in my world, but life with a newborn is becoming 'easier'. I hesitate to even use that world because I still find it very challenging. Most recently, B and I have been having all sorts of conversations about how we approach meeting Chloe's needs in different ways. I LOVE that we desire to do a lot of parenting together, but sometimes communicating about things like when to give a pacifier and when not to, can be exhausting. I realize that I respond intuitively to many of her needs. B looks at the bigger picture. Both are actually very helpful, but when my pride comes into play I find that I just want to be right. I admitted to B last week that I have a control problem, that I want to respond to her first because I want to be in control of what transpires thereafter. Yuck! I am so glad we can talk about these things! It is a blessing. I am so glad that I have a husband who wants to get up at night to feed our baby, who wants me to get out and have time to myself, who really wants us to parent together.

In baby news, Chloe has craddle cap on her face and while at the doctor she weighed in at 10lbs 6oz. She really is growing and the craddle cap is getting better with a little head and shoulders every other day. She has started to smile a lot more, but it is hard to get a picture right at that moment, though I am trying. She is focusing on things more and more. Today when she looked in the mirror she smiled so big! She is sleeping pretty well, but just when we think she is in a pattern, something changes. *Sigh*. Here are some new pictures that bring a smile to my face!


She looks so bewildered here! I think it was the flash.