Khloe 3 months!

My friend Gaby Walker took these pictures of Khloe in her sweet blessing dress (which was the actual dress I was blessed in as a baby!) They turned out pretty great!! Thanks Gaby....

This little babe called Khloe is such a dream child! I feel like I am raising her in the car and she is totally right along for the ride. She is a sweetie and we just love having her in our family. It seems like she has been with us forever! She is so precious!

The latest!

Macie: "Mom, does this match?"

Dave took Macie out on a daddy/daughter date Sat night. She has been feeling a little left out since Dalan had his tonsils out...and is crank-Y!

Close Macie. The colors are right. Just a little clashing goin' on!!



Khloe: Oh she is the sweetest thing ever and we are enjoying her so much. She is one beauty and we are eating her up!!



Dalan: He got his tonsils and adenoids out 5 days ago (a whole different post to come...someday) and got tubes put in his ears. He is a wreck. I am now admitting that I miss my CrAzY Dalan! I need his personality back. Right now, he is just a pile of mush...



We tried to lift his spirits today so what better idea than to spread some Christmas cheer. That's what we did. Christmas Music playing. Christmas Trimming Candle burning. The Christmas tree is twinkling!




AND look....our first wrapped present under the tree. She's not too happy about it! What a sweet gift, topped with the perfect bow! muah!!

The happenings!

Macie loves Khloe. She is really sweet with her, but doesn't really care to hold her as much as I thought she would. She loves to love on her, but I think she is just so wrapped up in her "stuff" and playing and being a social bug that she doesn't have the time to play with Khloe. She is all about her friends and Khloe can't quite get up and play Barbies and Princesses yet...



Dalan is so funny with her and is always in her face saying, "hey honey girl!" in a high pitched voice! He loves Khlo Khlo. He actually tried to carry her to me on his own. I reacted with panic, and he answered with, "but mom, I'm strong." He also proceeded to tell me, "Mom, you are not the boss. Dad is." Hmmm...we'll just see about that! We had the talk that only a grown up can help you hold the baby and so the other day Dal said, "Mom, is Khloe breakable!?" I said YES...she is!! Hopefully this will keep his strong muscles in check without lifting the baby on his own.



Why is it that when I just try to get one good picture of BOTH kids, one of them is having an off day. I can usually always count on Dal to cheese at the camera, but he was not having it and Macie was feelin' the love. I thought this was a funny picture of Dal pushing his sister away. This is a true representation of how they treat each other. I hate to admit it, but just keepin' it real.



There are days when they are sweet to each other and play really well!!



To try and spread this love and work on how we treat each other, I just created this chore chart. At my parenting class last week, the lesson was on "Responsibility and Work." I loved this and got a little too caught up in the cuteness of the chore chart, but so far this week...the kids have been excited about it. They have wanted to do their chores so they could mark it off the chart and earn their Grantham Gold bars! I will bribe and make a cute chore chart any day if it gets them to pick up toys, make their bed, put dishes away, clothes, etc. I hope this works!!



All is well at our house. We are enjoying the change of seasons and gearing up for the holidays ahead!

Khloe's Blessing

Dave gave Khloe a really great blessing and I am so thankful for this little babe in our home. She is such a sweet baby!!

We had a great support for Khloe's baby blessing. My entire family made the drive up...which is an all day event. It was so fun to have all the cousins together and I am so appreciative and grateful for family! I only wish we were all a little closer.

Her sweet blessing dress is 29 years old....it was the dress I was blessed in as a baby! It is still white, and it was perfect! She looked darling in it, and it was special to share that with her.

All we wanted was ONE perfect picture of Bumma and all the grandkids. Not happening. Although, nothing is better than a candid photo of children!! What you see is what you get!

Uncle Marlin and Aunt Denise! (My dad's brother)

My little brother Rob, his wife Britny, and their super hillarious little boy Brecken!

My sister Amber, her hubby Ron, Briqelle (the sweet beauty) Cali (Macie's BFF) and little Jameson...would you check out his eyes!!!

Macie is only 6 months older than Cali and she towers her by a couple of inches!

Briqelle & Izzy...the dog. The dog that I grew to like. Not love. But like. She is welcome back, for real!

This boy is one handsome dude! I swear he is gonna be a heart breaker one day! Again, just look at those big blues!

Our family with Grandma Great, my dad's mom~

Sweet Khloe!

Bumma Mags!

The cousins... - minus Briqelle, Jama, and Khloe!

What a great weeked this was. We only had one full day to play and hang out, thanks to the 10 hour drive they had waiting on Sunday. Dang. I miss all you guys badly! Come back soon. It is just a skip, hop, and a jump away...or something.

Khloe's Birth

Meet Khloe



Our Dream Baby!

This is what she does.....sleepy sleepy sleep! I sit and snuggle and love on her all day long!

The story goes a little somethin' like this:

We were lucky enough to be able to pick Khloe's birthday thanks to a little thing called inducing labor, which was great! Dr. Agrusa scheduled this for one week before my due date. This was scheduled a few months back and then I was able to book a flight for Mama Mags to come out here so she could be here for the birth and to help with Macie & Dalan.

August 25th: Mama Mags makes her scheduled arrival and is here by 7pm so we have time to get settled, laugh and play with the kids...and gear up for the next day. Of course Macie and Dalan were thrilled and couldn't wait to have their Bumma here for an entire week!

August 26th, Khloe's Birthday: We arrived at the hospital at 7:30 am. I checked in and said, "Hi, I am here to give birth today!" I was given a little paperwork, asked about insurance, asked about a living will..blah blah blah... Next thing I knew, nurse Kari was there to show us the way! She wasted no time and had me dress in the maternity gown that exposes my everything, and she asked her medical ?'s and did her thing. I had an iv in by 8:00 am, then the pitossin started pumping and the contractions started contracting. They were bearable for the first little bit. Dr. Agrusa was there to greet us first thing in the am with to break my water. This was at 8:30 am. GUSH...gross I know. The nurse explained the epidural procedure and I knew I had a 20 minute window to allow all the fluids to drip in my body...At 9:00 am, I was ready for the fluids and then the epidural was put in by 9:30. I was dilated to a 4 . For about 45 minutes, I thought I was going to die...and the pain was awful. I was watching the clock tick tock tock. Finally, my dream man came in with a HUGE needle in hand. Pinch, burn, and aaagghhhh....relief was on it's way, epidural style. I could no longer feel pain. I was able to relax and breathe again. I couldn't feel pain, just pressure and within 45 minutes I was at a 10 and ready to push. 3 x and there she was...

Khloe Lin Grantham
10:53 am

6 lbs 12 oz
19 1/2 inches
TONS of black hair, evenly distributed!

She is sooooo great. I am the happiest mama ever!

We are a happy family!



Thank you to Mama Mags:

I could have never survived that first week without this woman, my mom! She was so great. She took care of Macie & Dalan so I could sit and snuggle and enjoy my baby without interruption. She did it all. Cooked, cleaned, laundry, dishes, bathed the kids, got them to bed, and everything in between! I owe her so much. When I dropped her off at the airport; myself, Macie, and Dalan were all in tears...literally balling. Miss you mom!





August 27th: Coming home. This is a great story! My mom and I decide to get in my car with all the kids, mama mags at the wheel. Dave is following right behind us. We get about 2 blocks from home and my mom says, "your transmission is going out. The car won't go." Panic. SO, we pull over on the side of the road...and realize we totally ran out of gas. WOW! Nice timing for this, right! It is a hot summer day...so we quickly load all the kids up in Dave's car and leave him on the side of the road to wait for rescue!




Khloe is a girl version of Dalan:



Poor Macie. She got stuck with the fair skin and light hair like her mama. Cute sisters, a blondie and a brownie!!



She has found her thumb. I already have a thumb sucker so we are trying to MAKE her take a binky!!!



Isn't she beautiful? We think so...

Khloe's Here!

Here is a little sneak peak....

Isn't she the sweetest little thing. I am so in love!

7 more days...

Macie said to me today: "Mom, your tummy is fat like a drum!"
Thanks Mace~
One more week until Khloe Lin makes her debut...

3 years in the making!

As I reflect back on the last 3 years and try to think about
where the time has gone, I realize that Dalan is now a little boy. I wish he would stay small forever, but also love that he is getting older and learning each day. I love this little boy! He gives us a run for our money and there is NEVER a dull moment when he is around. Here is a preview of his funny little personality that keeps us going and going and going...

This little boy has always had FAST on his mind as he entered this world in a record time of

7 minutes. That's right...no typo there! He was quick to arrive and has never slowed down since. He really was such a dream baby...and then he hit his toddler years and WHEW, woke us all up!

I was just reading my journal entries and when he was 16 months I said, "you went from the baby that never cries, to the toddler that never slows down." You are still NOT Slowing down, but only seem to be gaining speed...

His first obsession began with any janitorial supply. He developed a love for mops, brooms, vaccuum's, and any cleaning supply at a young age! He is still, at age 3, a fan of it all! This could potentially one day be a great quality!

His very own mop!

Mom's broom!

Just trying to help. Look at that smile!

In your short 3 years of life there have been many messes and lots of clean ups! For a good 6 months, there was a "daily event" that I remember thinking...just let me get through the day! Here are a few examples!





Mascara on face

shampoo on carpet

He was determined to get a drink of milk, but as he sat the carton on the counter....major spillage and moppage of the floor a 10 pm. Dang it!

There used to be 3 pots, different sizes....now we are left with just one.

Playing too rough and knocked over our floor lamp, crash, breakage of glass...(take notice of the 3 pots!)




There once was a fish named Rosie! Our good friends, the Buhrley's, let us adopt this fish when they were moving to California. We took on this pet and decided to love her as our own...until Dalan decided to get the step stool to see what she was doing. He dumped an entire bottle of Bath & Body Works scented oil (coconut lime verbena will never smell the same) and that was the end of her. She kept swimming for a day or two, and then she croaked. Miss that Rosie...

This little boy is always on the go and when we introduced time out to him, it required full on restraints. This was for MY sanity I will fully admit!

Time out in the carseat

It was a bit of a deal breaker when Macie kept bringing Dalan toys to play with while in his own secure time out spot!!

He was potty trained early (age 2 & 3 months) due to the following:

The constant diaper removal both during the day and at night. I have journal entries that talk about checking in on Dal at night and finding him fully undressed, so we began putting his pajamas on backwards. During the day, he just would not keep his diaper on!

So we did this for a while until he could not take off his danged diaper. Thanks duct tape! You changed my life...

He has such a love for water of all kind: swimming, my kitchen sink, and hoses, which of course drip water. He loves spray bottles and squirt guns and sprinklers!

The kitchen sink is like his own indoor playground. He LOVES to climb up to the bar and turn the water faucet off and on and off and on. No matter how many times I tell him to STOP...look at how much fun he thinks it is!

He Loves any hose because it drips H20!

A hose, a hose!!

You love to bath and shower and couldn't stay out of the water, even though you were already clean and ready for bed!

By far the best purchase ever made was a gift for his 2nd birthday! I finally discovered a toy that would hold his attention. He loves his yard tools! This toy is now duct taped to keep it together *I really love this stuff* and he still plays with it all the time. If he can hear a weed trimmer or a lawnmower from a distance, he will stop and say, "mom, whats that sound!?"

Weed Trimmer

Lawnmower

Screwdriver

He is all boy and LOVES tractors!

He is not afraid to get his hands dirty!

He loves his scooter and is crazy on this thing...

His Daddy's Jeep...

He is Dave's right hand man!

He loves his sister and she can coax him to play house, and dress up...and he doesn't mind having this pink lipstick on!!



This little boy may be a little "WILD & CRAZY" ...but with a face like this:

How can you resist him!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR FAVORITE LITTLE GUY!!!

Things I LOVE about my boy!

- When you say "Ta-Dah!" after your many accomplishments, such as jumping from one couch to the other.

- When you stop dead in your tracks to watch the garbage man dump the big green garbage can into the back of his truck. Then, when the garbage man proceeds to the neighbors, you are still so intensely watching.

- That you would rather play with a screwdriver, pliers, or a wrench, instead of throwing a ball into the hoop.

- That you are obsessed with yard tools. You beg dad to mow the lawn daily and talk about his lawnmower so passionately!

- Watching your personality develop and having you keep me going all day long. No breaks. No T.V. time for you (your choice)...come on buddy, give me just one cartoon, 20 minutes!

- You love to tease your sister. You love to play with her, but sure know how to annoy her at the same time.

- The never ending, keep mom on my toes, adventures in your every day activities. Example: just the other day, I caught you climbing on my plantation shudders. You made it to step 4 before I caught you and you said, "Look mom, a ladder!"

I will ALWAYS be there to catch you when you fall. I never knew I could love someone so much! You keep me laughing and smiling Dalan and I cannot wait to see what new adventures you continue to bring!!

Love,
Mom