four months.

the little spaz is four months now. her check up was today and here are the stats.

weight-13lb. 4oz.
height-24in.
head-41cm

all in the 50th percentile.

new "tricks":
she has found her feet. i think the bright red shoes on christmas eve helped.
she is starting to laugh a lot more. today she was laughing like crazy when i was kissing her belly.
she is just very active in general. she's always bouncing up and down and when i help her sit up, she skips the sitting part and goes straight to standing.

we had a great first christmas with her! we went to harrisburg christmas eve where she meant her grandma look (mike's mom) for the first time and the rest of that side of the family. back to covenant for christmas eve service and then some time spent at the hayes's after. on christmas day we spent part of the morning as a little family singing and exchanging gifts. then dad, mom hayes and jenny came over (which was such a blessing). and then over to my parents that afternoon with the whole family. a few photos...

chloe in her christmas pj's from gramma and grampa.

you wouldn't know it by her face, but she actually liked this.

the best you can get with a self timer.

yes mom, i love christmas and i LOVE tummy time.

she really does love her auny jenny.

everything she knows she learned from lucy.

she had tried rice cereal once before and dad decided to give her a taste of mashed potatoes. as you might tell, she loved them. i think she might've been a little tater drunk.

it was an exhausting few days and i'm kinda glad it's over, but not happy that christmastime is over. it went too fast.

matt and i had tickets to go to the eagles game last night, but as you may know, it was postponed, which i was very relieved about. i do not like driving in the snow. so, we'll be heading down there tomorrow night. i'm excited about my first nfl game. and it definitely helps that we'll be in a heated, all inclusive, luxury suite :)

'i love my lips.'

chloe has found her lips. this is her new look.


makes me laugh all day long.

craftyness.

this week i had the urge to be crafty. christmas does that to me sometimes. i had a christmas party at my house on friday and realized i did not have as many decorations as i thought i did. so, i made some. first up was the yarn wreath previously mentioned. here's how it turned out.



project cost:
wreath-2.49
yarn-3.29
felt-.87

total-6.65

i rather like it. and you could keep it up all year round.


and second was my advent tree. idea came from paige + modern that i saw on another megan's blog. i had a lot of fun with this one. although thinking of 25 things to write on the cards was harder than anticipated. sharpie came through and helped me out though. and the calendar.



mine does not look nearly as good as hers, but it works. i did a lot of things different. i don't have a great printer, so i used stickers that i got at michaels. i also walked around for quite awhile trying to find those envelopes she had, but my michaels didn't have them and the only other ones i could find were too big. so, i improvised and got gift tags instead. i used them upside down, hole punched them, and tied them on the branches with red string. i got the branches from my parents yard cause i liked them better than the ones that were in mine :) and then spray painted them white. my neighbors must think i'm nuts for the amount of spray painting i do. but, then again, they are pretty nutty themselves. my neighborhood has an infinity for those overly large holiday inflatables.

project cost:
spray paint-3.99
branches-free
tags (sold in packs of 10)-5.37
string-already in my craft supplies
stickers-2.67
vase-7.79

total-19.82


today we were finally able to go and cut down our christmas tree. it even started to snow for a few minutes which was lovely. we actually settled upon the first one we liked...i guess it works out like that sometimes not only for wedding dresses but trees too. but, now that we have it home, it's a little more crooked and sparse than we thought. oh well. hopefully it'll be a little warmer for chlo next year. she gave me this pained look the whole time.



and now for day 3 of the advent calendar...decorate the tree while matt watches...

of recent.

some favorites of recent.

gap body fit sweatpants. you can cut them to what length you want. brill.


(these aren't actually the ones i have. they must not sell them online)

winter berry candle from target.



nivea milk and honey chapstick.



my yarn & felt (i love felt) wreath i am making right now.



finished product to be posted on completion.

thankfulness.

chloe's first snow on her first thanksgiving.

a few years ago, i started this 'thankfulness' book. every person we spend time with on thanksgiving has to write in it. it's a rule. it's so fun looking back over the few years to see what we've all written. dad is always thankful for peanut butter...at least a few times. and rick's is probably my favorite every year. it's also fun to see how our families have grown. from traci being pregnant, to lucy and madelyn last year, and chlo and baby healey this year. and hopefully many more to come. last year at this time, we were praying and hoping for a chloe and a few weeks before christmas, we found out she was in my belly...God's timing is always perfect. so for us, this year's thanksgiving has been all the sweeter with her here. you know how some things are just happier at christmas?...starbucks, snow, ella fitzgerald, mashed potatoes (or maybe mashed potatoes are always happy)... well, some holiday things are just happier with a kid. besides my new daughter, a few other top things i'm thankful for...

-jesus' unending love.
-my matty. i am his #1 fan.
-being a mom and wife.
-nieces.
-our cg's.
-bacon.

although thanksgiving is a good time to reflect back on those things i'm thankful for, i pray that this year i'm ever more aware of God's goodness to me. because i have much to be thankful for every day.

i will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
i will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
i will be glad and exult in You;
i will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
psalm 9:1-2

it's that time of year...

to start thinking about holiday cards. last year i did not send any, but i'm hoping to this year if i can get my act together. i was hoping to do some family photos, but not sure that'll happen...everyone would probably rather just see a photo of chlo anyway. shutterfly has some very fun cards this year. i've never ordered from them before, but hear good things. here are some of my favorites. i didn't even get through all the pages cause they have so many options!

classy and simple.


i really like the man’s bow tie in this one. maybe i should get matt to wear a bow tie.


bright and fun.


i love these colors together.


maybe if you’re lucky, one of these cards will be coming to a mailbox near you (or in your front yard).



*for all you bloggers, shutterfly is offering 50 free cards if you write a blog post promoting them. i say that is a steal...and it really is. thank you shutterfly!

a keeper.

fact: i do not like to cook (baking is a different story)
fact: matt is a picky eater (but i still love him)

when i find a recipe that matt and i BOTH like and that i don't really mind cooking, it definitely is a keeper and goes on my 'go to meals' list.

thai honey peanut chicken

one note...i didn't realize that it was supposed to marinade for a few hours, so i marinaded it while the rice was cooking and it still turned out delicious. i'm sure it would be even better if you did marinade it beforehand.

the ingredients are simple and usually things you always have on hand.

speaking of keepers, she is another one.