What an adorable little shot of Berkley! I think she looks SO much like Chad in this one, especially from the eyes up.
Sister, sister! This was take one because Chloe was more interested in Caillou on t.v.
Take 2 left us with a more excited Chloe, but a close-eyed and sort of flailing Berkley! Oh well, they're both cute nonetheless :-)
We've always told people about all the random things Chloe does like collecting all sorts of things to put in carts, strollers, and bags. Well, today she decided to throw a birthday party for Daddy. Here's what the party consisted of: ALL of this stuff!!! She LOVES to do things like this; we like it too, but NOT the clean-up :-)
Showing how proud she is of her party throwing abilitites ;-)
Chloe was dying for us to put Berkley in the swing, and since she was tired we decided that there was no better time. 
Showing her excitement of Berkley being in the swing!
Our swing is obviously automatic, though Chloe got the bright idea that she'd "help" push her. 
Chloe stopped pushing for a minute and grabbed her baby kangaroo. She turned to Chad & asked, "I put this kangaroo in the swing for her, huh?!" And this is where she placed it! So cute :-)
Ah, yes. The ever so enjoyable bath! We decided to just take some pictures because the location of our bathtub didn't leave hardly any room for me to squeeze in to get pictures. She was crying, as if you couldn't tell by this picture!
She actually calmed down when Chad washed her back. It's apparently soothing to her! Chloe was glued to the side of the tub loving every minute and asking lots of questions. This too made it difficult to get any spectacular shots...
Berkley is FINALLY here! On Wednesday, I called the hospital, and they asked me to be there by 7:15. We checked in, which was weird because it was so relaxed and laid back unlike last time, and they took us back to our labor/delivery room. They started Pitocin around 8:30, and after 5 short hours I was ready to go. Fortunately (and VERY much unlike the 2 1/2 hours I pushed with Chloe), four contractions later and Berkley was born! We didn't get a great look at her at first, and this is why the above pic is the only one Chad took in the delivery room, because when they broke my water there was meconium (a.k.a. she pooped in utero). We had a couple of resperatory specialists there, and their analysis of Berkley was great! So, here are the stats: born at 1:50 p.m., 8lbs 0oz (2 oz shy of Chloe) and 20 inches long (the exact same length as Chloe)!
Chad took this picture not long after we got to our recovery room. Berkley looks super cute, but I wish I could say so for myself!
Adorable daddy and daughter :-)
Just a little close-up-- And to report on the binky situation, she does like it but not even CLOSE to what Chloe did. Thank goodness!!!
Don't even ask what she thought she was doing, but whatever it was ended up looking pretty silly! Oh, I can't even believe that tomorrow is the day I go from having one beautiful, precious, hilarious, bright, brilliant daughter to two. I'm extremely ready to be done with pregnancy. As enjoyable as it is there comes a point where the discomfort, lack of sleep, and awkwardness is almost too much to bear. I had a woman at church on Sunday say that she thinks it's a good thing that pregnancy last 9 months because God knows that after that much time of discomfort and whatnot that we're actually READY & WILLING to endure labor! I have to agree with her-- haha! Anyway, I'm also very excited to meet Berkley and see what she looks like, what her personality is like, and begin the journey of teaching her and knowing who she will become. On the other hand, I'm a little scared. I often wonder what kind of Mom I'll be to TWO children, and I do worry about how Chloe will adjust. However, I know that having Berkley has been & will continue to be an enormous blessing. I keep reminding myself that nothing we're handed in this life is too great for us to work through or overcome-- God will always provide a way for us through our faithfulness and trust in Him. I can't wait to step into this new chapter in my life with an amazing husband by my side, a brilliant daughter following behind, my terrific family who always supports me no matter what, and friends who are such a strength to me! I love ALL of you and am so happy to share this great event in my life. Wish me luck tomorrow; we'll take all the thoughts & prayers we can get! Look for pictures & updates likely late Thursday or Friday (depending on the length of our hospital stay)!!
Chloe wanted to play with my make-up Sunday afternoon when she discovered a very pretty shade of orange polish. She went up to Chad and said, "Paint my toes please, Daddy." Chad, being his awesome self, agreed and painted her nails. Here's Chloe showing them off!
Well, then Chloe decided that maybe it'd be a good idea to paint his. And, surprisingly, he let her! Here she is working on his nails, er toes! She kept wanting to paint the same three, which ended up with a TON of polish! After some encouragement, she eventually got them all done :-)
Happily showing off her amazing painting skills... ;-)
Ta da! A close-up of Chad's now beautiful feet. Is that a pedicure or what?! Haha! He was such a good sport. It took quite a while to remove the paint in between his big and second toes :-) To my further surprise, he cleaned up his toes & actually left the polish that covered/partially covered his toes! Everytime he takes his socks off he's shocked until he remembers. 
For a long while I've wanted to get a beanbag toss game for Chloe. But, as you all have come to know, we're super cheap! So, Chad gathered some scrap wood from work to make this sort of silly, but super fun beanbag toss! We wanted to paint it in bright colors, all of which we just so happened to have left over and lying around! 
I decided to sew up some beanbags with some scrap fabric I had (you may notice some of the patterns from other projects I've posted). The only thing we actually had to purchase for this entire project was an additional bag of stuffing pellets (usually used to fill dolls & other children's toys)-- I had half a bag from an I-spy bag I made for Chloe last September, but it didn't quite cut it! We're super excited about our $4 project, and so is Chloe!!
Unfortunately I'm posting yet ANOTHER pregnancy picture. I've made it 39 weeks, which means I have the LONGEST week ahead... I don't really have anything to report at this time since I don't have an appointment until tomorrow afternoon. All I know is that the last couple of days have more or less been brutal. I've felt really pretty rotten, at least on and off, and I'm crossing my fingers that I've at least progressed since last week. It'd be great if she'd come soon, but only time will tell! Wish me luck!!
So, the other morning Chloe decided that she wanted to "make" breakfast for her stuffed animals. She was pretty proud of her idea, and this smile definitely shows that fact! 
She was really excited to make some fish for her Cuckatoo. She asked me to take a picture of the two of them so that then she could show him the picture ;-) What a sweetie!
This picture only shows a portion of the stuffed animals that joined in her breakfast! She made herself a plate- a sandwich made with pancakes, eggs, lettuce (or salad, as Chloe calls it), ham, pickles (or lemons, as Chloe refers to them as), and a multitude of other random items! Nevertheless, she had a terrific time!
On Friday, Melanie & Taya came over to play. Chloe's really loving the fact that Taya is motoring around now, well, for the most part! She's almost expressionless, but you can really see the individual features of her face. I think she looks SO much like Chad except for the nose and maybe partially the lips. She's a beauty for sure :-)
What a sweet little smile, Taya! She's such a cute, fun girl! Chloe & Taya are going to be great friends for sure :-) 
Wow! It feels like every picture I take of myself pregnant keeps getting worse and worse! My apologies to all of you, but like I've said in the past, I'm glad that I'm keeping better track of how my body has been changing during pregnancy. I had an appointment today & I've progressed, which is good. I'm currently a 3+, 80%, and she's at -1 station. Although Dr. Fowers (or anyone for that matter) can determine when I will go into labor, it's sort of exciting to know that this is about where my progression was the Thursday before I had Chloe. If my body is consistent, then she might be coming Tuesday. Only time will tell! 
What a beautiful smile, and picture, of course! Chloe's favorite art activity (and likely her 2nd or 3rd favorite activity period) is painting. She enjoys painting with a brush the most, though she likes to fingerpaint and use sponges too. It makes a HUGE mess, but it's such a great activity for young children. Plus, it keeps my fridge looking colorful & fun :-)
Chloe loves her saxoflute! She loves to put all the pieces together in different forms/shapes and play it. Here she is with it in her mouth, but still posing with a smile!
A close-up! She plays this things so much and produces so much spit that the mouthpiece is almost nasty when she's done with it!
"Hello. My name is Chloe, and I'm ADDICTED to George, Curious George that is." 
Alas! I've arrived at my FINAL baby related sewing project (with the exception of possibly deciding to make some more flowers if I get bored or have nothing else to do)! And, the best part, it's complete :-) I'm not sure how many of you have seen nursing pillows on the market, but Boppy is one of the most popular ones. Calling it a nursing pillow is sort of a misnomer because its purposes are much more vast than just helping support a baby while nursing/feeding a bottle. They can be used to prop up a baby's head while laying down to increase lines of sight, to prop up a baby's chest while laying on her stomach, to support a baby learning to sit alone, and Chloe's been using it for a neck pillow as of late! This is another one of my frugal projects: the Boppy sells for around $30 or more, while this one cost a whopping $11. This was by far one of the easier projects I've completed, and I've got to give thanks to Lotta Jansdotter, the author of the book I got the pattern from. Her sewing projects are simple and awesome, just the way I like them! Yay, it's done :-)
Before church on Sunday, Chloe reluctantly allowed me to put one of the clips we made into her hair. We're planning on growing her bangs out now because it seems like there's no better time, and we're hoping that she'll get more used to having her bangs clipped back! I think, over time, that she'll decide that it's better than the alternative-- falling right into her face! Anyway, she decided that she wanted to take silly pictures, so she showed me her finger, gave a really goofy cheese, and stuck her tongue out! What fabulous ways to showcase the hair clip in action :-)
Ugh! I look at these pictures of me pregnant and have to seriously remind myself why I'm taking them because they are NOT my favorite things in the world. Anyway, here's a take at 37 weeks. Berkley's doing well & so am I. Things are progressing... YAY! Currently I'm a 2, 70%, and she's -2. Hopefully next week will lead to only more progression! I'll post an update on the pregnancy next week, unless things start rolling before then :-)
After making muffins the other morning, Chloe decided to eat hers in the pantry of all places! Here she is cheesing it up for the camera! I think this picture is just too cute :-)
Silly, silly girl!
