2 Year Update

I haven't had a lot of time lately to post anything on my blog, it seems that other things are filling my time that I would normally use to be on the internet and update things on here. The last 6 weeks have been spent studying to apply for a job, and I have now learned that NONE of the captioning companies are hiring anytime soon. So now I have a little more time to update things like this.

So here's my update on Chloe, otherwise when I look back at it years from now to scrapbook it (seriously...I haven't had time to scrap in forever,) I won't remember a thing about her.

About two weeks before we came down to Florida, her language and vocabulary exploded, there's no other way to put it. She started talking in sentences, stringing two words together and then three. In the last month she has gone on to speak full-out sentences. For example, when I tell her we're going to the park, she asks, "Mommy go to the park, too?" Or, if we pull out the ice cream, "Chloe wants ice cream, too!!" Nearly everything is in sentences, and the only one-word answers we get are when it's necessary, such as "yes" or "no." She can also say just about everything you ask her to, like the foreign exchange students' names, "Chloe, this is Carlos," "Hi Carwash!!!" Yeah, poor Carlos.

It's kind of sad that Chloe is talking so well, and her cousin Bella (who is 4 months older than her) hasn't been able to start her vocabulary yet. Unbeknownst to her parents, Bella had some hearing problems, and wasn't able to start hearing properly until a few months ago when she had surgery, and she is JUST NOW starting to say things like "momma" and "dadda." My sis-in-law has been a little down, I think, from seeing the videos we've posted online and seeing how well Chloe talks. I've been wanting to keep the videos to a minimum for that reason, but it's the only way our families can "see" Chloe and feel like she's there with them. I guess I took it for granted that all 2-year olds can talk that much, so it makes me very grateful that Chloe can almost always tell me what's wrong, or what she wants, or what she wants for breakfast.

Her 2nd birthday party went over really good. We went to one of the local parks that had water spouts for the kids to play in, and she had a blast. She got some pretty cool things from my mom and dad, namely the Barbie Jeep they bought her. She likes to sit in it and "ride" in her Jeep, but she won't let anyone get near the gas pedal, because it freaks her out.

I'm trying to think of other things she's doing, but I'm coming up blank. I know I'm missing so many things, but who can remember everything?

Week One In Florida

Well, here we are! We've been in Naples for a week now, and are semi-settled in to our lives down here! Things have been busier than ever for me, and I wonder what I used to do with all of my spare time...


So, let's see if I can explain this right:

We're temporarily staying with friends for a couple weeks; it works out great for both parties. They're on vacation and needed someone to housesit, or more accurately, farmsit. Yep. We're taking care of their goats, chickens, and dogs while they're gone. That means I milk the goats. You read that right; Bek is milking goats.

Two days after we got here, the company that John and his dad contract through decided to let most of their contracts go and only use what they call "preferred vendors" and to be a "preferred vendor" you have to have been with the company for a long time. In essence, John and his dad don't have a job anymore. That job was the reason we decided to make a cross-country move. So, we are job and apartment hunting. John has a couple places he's looking into, and we would greatly appreciate prayers for guidance and wisdom through this time of transition.

Chloe is doing great, she's loving Maggie, one of the goats, and talks about her a lot (don't you like talking about goats?) She also cracks up when she sees the chickens, saying "Chicken! Bok bok!" The problem is, she thinks she can play with the chickens, and chickens have nasty claws. Hopefully she won't get more curious and actually try to touch one, because I've always stopped her before she does. She also loves playing on the pirate ship that our friends built on their property. This picture pretty much describes it:

It scares the dickens out of me when she climbs to the top and swings from that little rope.

We've also been to the beach a few times with John being home during the day with us. Chloe loves playing in the sand, but does not enjoy swimming! The most we got her to do was dip her toes in it, and even that came with a bout of screaming. Otherwise, she LOVES the beach and loves playing in the sand. She asks to go to the beach about ten times a day.

So, my friends, how are your lives going?

It seems that I haven't been the only one out of my blogging friends to be out of the loop lately with updating. It feels like we don't even blog anymore! But we each have our own valid reasons for not blogging...and sometimes I wonder how I find the time to even check your blogs.

Things in Plunkerville have been changing so fast, and I feel like I've just now caught up. I have about 2-4 more weeks until Chloe and I join John in Florida. I am counting down the days; I can't wait to see him again!

Poor Chloe just realized that she hadn't seen Daddy in quite a while. It was traumatic, seriously. John used to work 12-hour days, so she was used to not seeing him hardly at all for four days straight out of the week. But she would still see him every morning before he left, and usually right before bedtime. Today John got his webcam installed and Chloe was able to talk to him this morning. She bawled. She cried. She screamed "I hold you!!!!" at the top of her lungs, which is easy enough to understand, she wants you to hold her. It was so sad. I cried; John cried. She asked about him all day today, wanting to know when he would be home, and she cried every time I told her we would see Daddy later. It's heartbreaking.

John has been super busy with his new job, though. I didn't think it was possible for him to work more hours, but it was. He's been doing good, though. He's loving being in Florida again and loves the new job with his dad. I can't wait to be with him! I know it will be a while before John gets to have a more normal work schedule, and that we won't get a lot of family time, let alone "us" time, but I'm itching to be back there! The beach, the water, the weather...sigh.

We took some really good pictures of Chloe Sunday. We realized Saturday before John left that he didn't have a recent picture in his wallet, so Chloe and I set out to get him a good picture, and I think we got a few good ones.







I never had taken advantage of that barn right behind our house, and now I'm really glad I did.

This Is Hilarious

I couldn't resist sharing this. My friend Ellie (digital scrapbook designer) posted this on her blog. It's hilarious. I tried to make John watch it, but he wouldn't when he found out it was Twilight related. You'll only like this is you've seen the movie, and you liked it.

I tried to post the actual video here, but I can't get the embed code to work. I'm going to go crazy trying to figure this out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MKz0gkcgAo

Help With Blog Name

Chloe will have her own blog soon. There is an entire squadron of family members up here who want as many pictures and videos as I can stand uploading. I feel like my personal blog would become Chloe's blog, and wouldn't be anything more than updates on her.

So...I'm going to start a new blog for her soon. I had one for her right after she was born, but I never kept up with it. I still have that blog, but I don't know if I want the blog address to be her actual name (what was I thinking?) Regardless, it will be limited to people I invite so not just anyone can stumble across it (whoever reads my blog and would like to read that blog, just tell me your e-mail address and I'll make sure you get an invite.)

So, what do you think? Should I just forget about the name issue and keep the blog name the same? Or should I come up with something different? Chloe's Corner is already taken, so I would need help with a fun name if I go that route. Any suggestions?

Of Sunshine and Beaches...

Sunshine and beaches. Shells and sand. Palm trees and everglade swamps. The pruning of your tree of life. Life is bittersweet. In order to move forward, we have to break away, and it hurts.

We are moving to Florida. Very soon. John has accepted a job offer from his dad, that can only be sent from God. John is moving two weeks from this Wednesday; I'm staying behind for anywhere from four to six weeks.

There are multiple reasons for us going seperately. Firstly, this allows me to study with our built-in babysitter (my mom) and gives me a boost in my free time. After all, when I'm not worrying about laundry, cooking, and cleaning (okay, I'll still be doing these things, but on an as-needed basis, not on a daily taking-most-of-my-time basis,) I will have extra time to devote to studying. I can live on cereal and spaghettios for dinner, Chloe likes fish sticks and peas. We'll be good. (Seriously, I won't make her live on fish sticks for six weeks, I have more up my sleeves than that.)

Secondly, John is going to be working from 7 in the morning until 10 at night until he learns how to do things efficiently, and until he can hire and train someone to do the job with him. He won't have much free time for a long while. Even after six weeks, he'll still have a few months until enough people are hired and trained enough so that the workload can be evened out. If Chloe and I were there, John would be stressed out because he wouldn't be spending time with us at all. This way, it lets John learn the ropes faster, and it lets me get farther along as a captionist.

But it's still going to kill me. I know from experience that time apart from your spouse makes you appreciate them so much more, but it's not a fun thing to do at the time. I know it will be harder for John thinking about his relationship with Chloe; he's scared that she's going to forget him. I'm hoping that John can find the time during the day or before Chloe's in bed to get on the webcams that we both have on our computers, and that they can talk every day. It won't be the same, but it will be better than nothing.

This job truly is a blessing. It's going to be heartbreaking leaving almost all of our family behind when our daughter is obviously in love with them all, but I know that this is God's plan. We've been praying that God would open all the doors where He wanted us to go, and close all the ones where He didn't want us to be. This is from God. There is a greater purpose here other than my desire to gaze at the ocean while wallowing in self pity.

Wow. This has been an eventful weekend. A good one. But there's still a bit of heartbreak at the thought of leaving again, and knowing that this time is probably going to last longer being away.

You know what the sickest part of all this is? I'm worried about not having a girlfriend who reads Twilight to go see the new movie with...I know, I'm sick, right?

So...What Team Are You On?

In the past week I have found out that two of my friends who read my blog also like to read the book Twilight. Devon and Michelle. That's awesome. SERIOUSLY.

I would be thoroughly ashamed to tell you how many times I've read the series in the last six weeks. I've lost sleep over it. I've let Chloe watch Barney one too many times to read it. I even skipped a couple of study sessions to read a few chapters. It's shameful.

Now that the chaos is over and I finished the series (multiple times...) I'd like to know something from any one of my readers who likes Twilight. What team are you on?

I was Team Edward through and through the first time I read it. I couldn't stand Jacob in the second one, and in the third one I literally threw the book at the wall it made me so mad and refused to read it for a while (I won't mention the incident in question, because I believe Michelle is still reading the second, and I don't want to spoil it for you.) The second time through, however, I found myself on Team Switzerland (neutral territory.) Now that I've read it again...I may have slightly crossed over onto Team Jacob territory. Gasp! I don't want to get too into it, because I don't want to ruin anything for Michelle. (None of this gave anything away, right Dev??)

So, which way does your allegiance go?

Twilight and Chloe update

The past two to three months my blogging has been so sporadic that it doesn't even feel like I blog anymore, how odd!

I think part of the reason is I discovered Twilight a week before our trip to Texas. :) My sister-in-law told me at Christmas that I needed to read the books, and I didn't even know there was a movie! I read the first book in a couple days, and we saw the movie right after I finished it (we got to see the movie in theaters the last day it was showing.) It was funny how I persuaded John to see it with me. We hadn't seen a movie in a long time, and my mom and dad offered to watch Chloe for us. John wanted to see Grand Turino, and I, obviously, wanted to see Twilight. So we played rock paper scissors, and I won, score! I like the books a lot more, but John and I both enjoyed the movie; he liked a lot more than he thought he would.

So I read Twilight practically the whole trip down and back from Texas, with a side of Dramamine. Just like with my reading Harry Potter 7 on the way home from Florida, I kept John posted on important details in the book. This was almost like having a book club; someone other than me was interested in the book. Most of the time I would gasp and John would say "What happened?!" It was a fun trip with the book, seriously. And it also helped that my toddler did amazingly well the whole time, reading her books, coloring, snacking, watching Barney. I was beyond blessed.

So anyways, enough about Twilight (although I could go on, and on...)

Lots of new things are happening. God is blessing me abundantly with my skills, and I know that's it just a matter of time before I have a job. !!!

Chloe is a weed. By the time I've adjusted to the new things she's doing, she's onto doing something else. I'm at a loss to describe her; I haven't updated in so long that it's overwhelming to give an accurate update.

So here's a few new things about her:

• She likes to say "Yeah, okay" a LOT. ME: "Chloe, can you finish your food first and then we'll go play?" CHLOE: "Yeah, okay!" She says it probably 30 times a day; I'm not joking.
• She loves to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
• She talks in her sleep "Emmies...Yumm" Emmies are M&M's, if you don't speak Chloe
• Her best friend is Doug at our church. He's 17. He helps out in the toddler room on Sundays, and Chloe is in LOVE with him. All day Sunday and Monday she asks where Doug is, while she's eating, playing, getting ready for bed, and we have to tell her that Doug is doing the same thing she's doing, but at his house. The first week it was really cute. It's still cute, but the thirtieth time she asks where Doug is...I find myself sighing before I answer "Doug is at home with his Mommy and Daddy."
• She gets her own snacks. Yep. She climbs up the pantry and grabs herself whatever she wants while Mom is distracted. Raisins, soybeans, goldfish, M&M's... My parents don't have a door on their pantry, if you're wondering. So she walks by and sees something she wants, and goes to get it. I usually don't even know that she's gotten something until it's almost gone, and I ask her what's in her mouth, which she always gives the right answer if she can say it.
• She knows what quarters are for. They are for the little toy machines at Pizza Street. Didn't you know that was their only purpose? She finds a quarter somewhere, and squeals "Peets Treet!!!!" She has her own wallet now, where we put a couple quarters in for our trips to Pizza Street.
• She says "cool" all the time. "Pongbob! Cool!" We don't watch Spongebob around here, but her cousins do, and she was sucked into the world of the bright yellow sponge. We don't have anything Spongebob related in our house, but as soon as we go to Walmart, I feel like they're trying to make my toddler go insane.
• She loves ladybugs. LOVES them. She waves to them and says, "Hi bug!!" She even tells them goodnight if she sees them around bedtime. We got her a little bug keeper for her easter basket.

There's lots more, but it's hard to sit down and think about what new things your toddler is doing whilst they are getting into trouble in the living room :) Besides, you'd get pretty sick of hearing mommy stories, wouldn't you?

I'll post some pictures when I find the cord to upload them with, but I better go figure out what Chloe has found to snack on while I've been on the computer...