Andrus Family Update!

-Chloie is growing up so fast, she Jabbers all the time and says some words (like: "dad" "baba" "yeah" "Bay" and "mama" but only when she cries...) she is a pretty funny little girl. She is so afraid to walk with out her little push walker ( but she lifted it up today and took about 4 steps while she was carrying it). She still doesn't have ANY teeth but she eats just about anything, she just gums her food to death! ha! She waves bye-bye now too and claps whenever we say "yay!". She is just so much fun!
-Baylie spends a LOT of time at our house, we call it Joint custody between my parents and Ben and I. They get her week days and we get her on weekends. :) It's been working out pretty well since we work together at RedLobster and we work pretty much the same shifts! It's been so fun working with my sister. And having her around more is great for Chloie, She LOVES her Aunt Bay!
-We are all so excited about Whitney and Jordan's twins! We have officially started guessing what gender they will be, all of the guys think it will be two boys (based on our twin cousins!) and the women are all agreeing on 1 boy and 1 girl! Guess we will find out on Christmas! :)
-We found out recently that one of Ben's sisters is expecting again, which is exciting too!
-Ben and I are working on reading the entire Book of Mormon together. We recently started running together (Ben HATES running!). Our 3 year anniversary of our first date (Dec. 31st)  is coming up soon which is a bit crazy! I can't believe how fast the past 3 years have gone by! :)
-Jayce was Baptized last week! So proud of him! (can you believe he is 8 already!?!)

Here is a funny video of the Jabber Jaw we call Chloie, and a few pictures too! :)

October

Just some fun pictures from last month of Chloie being silly and some pumpkins my mom, Kerryne, Baylie and I made :)

Pumpkin Patch!

Today we went to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins.. I know... I'm kinda stating the obvious. But I'm good at it.

I kid napped Baylie after I got off work today, then Jord, Whit, and Pais met us at my house. Then we wandered on down to the farmers market by my house.

We had a lot of fun searching for the perfect pumpkins and taking pictures on the hay stacks and tractor.

Here is the result of our fun! :) (ps all of these were taken with my phone so I know they aren't the greatest pictures.)

 

I am Excited to spend Halloween with all of these crazy people.

Snow... Winter... Holidays... :)

Can I just say that I am NOT ready for winter. I'm DREADING the snow. As pretty as it is.... I wish it wouldn't come into the valley. Just stay in the Mountains and look pretty!
Reasons:
1. Every time it snows here trying to drive somewhere is a nightmare, its like people have never seen snow on the road before! Its ridiculous!
2. It's Cold, mushy, dirty, and gets EVERYWHERE.
3. Dry skin, runny noses, cough... etc.
4. Even if you wear boots and several pairs of socks, your feet WILL be wet and ICE cold.
5. Can't go running around the lake...


But even with all the snow there are somethings I am looking forward to this winter:
1. Chloie's first Halloween!
2. Thanksgiving! I love seeing all of my family and getting to eat delicious food and catch up with everyone!
3. Jayce is turning 8yrs old on November 26th! My BABY BROTHER is going to be getting baptized this year!
4. Christmas! Who doesn't love Christmas? I love spending Christmas eve and Christmas morning with my family. Opening Pj's Christmas eve and eating butterscotch pull-aparts Christmas morning!  This year will be Chloie's first Christmas. :)
5. New years eve! Mine and Ben's first date anniversary! 3yrs!
6. Chloie will be turning one on January 24th! It is crazy how fast this first year is flying by!!!
7. Allie doesn't shed during the winter! and her Coat is so poofy and shiny! :)

With all the things to look forward to the snow doesn't seem so bad, just a backdrop for all the exciting things to come! So we will bundle up and enjoy the winter this year!

Going Pink!

My cousin, Desirae, has Breast Cancer and is beginning Chemo therapy this Wednesday. She asked everyone to wear pink and take pictures for her to scrapbook. So for Family night this week we did just that! :)

We all got to wear matching Pink tie dye shirts! Which Paisley help make (with her feet)! It was hard to get a picture with everyone smiling.... none of us could stay focused long enough and ended up laughing (or in Jayce's case SLEEPING). Chloie has a blast, She kept looking down at her shirt with this silly grin on her face and the sleeves were so big on her she kept throwing her little arms up to get her hands out. It looked like she was flapping her wings!!

Unfortunately we are missing Whitney, she had to work, but she also has a matching shirt and will be taking a picture wearing it!  :)

WE LOVE YOU DES!

Sunday Dinner! :)

Every Sunday we get to go over to my parents house for dinner with Everyone! Grandma, Grandpa, Jord, Whit, Pais, Jayce, Bay, and us. Occasionally we get to add a few extra visitors too :). Its a lot of fun to spend time with everyone!

Here are a few pictures of my crazy wonderful family! (jord, whit, and pais were in Lake Powell when we were taking pictures...)

And Baylie and I sometimes get a little carried away with the camera... at one point we didn't realize that the rest of the family was dead silent and watching us laughing hysterically at a picture we had just taken of ourselves. We tend to wander off into our own little world... 

Here is the result....

I absolutely LOVE my baby sister! She has become one of my best friends! :)

Baylie's Soccer game

Chloie and I went to one of Baylie's soccer games on Tuesday this last week. She had alot of fun playing in the grass and I had a blast playing with my adorable little niece, Paisley.

 Baylie wasn't in the best mood, she flipped me off (more like flipped our mom off, I just happen to be holding the camera) so I snapped a picture. Figured one day she'll look back and laugh...

 Chloie Sat in Grandma's lap and played.

 Paisley was having fun talking to grandpa, She kept walking over to me and saying "Play wit me, Kelc!" :)

  Chloie cheering for Aunt Bay! She's 7 months old now! 

 Baylie is #9 

It was fun to spend some time with my family, and fun to see my sister playing soccer. I can't believe my baby sister is a SENIOR in high school and playing on the VARSITY soccer team! What happened to my little tom boy sister??? She has grown into such a beautiful & talented young woman! Where did the time go?!? :)

Update.

A few fun things have happened over the past little while..

::Paisley Belle Fowlks turned 2, August 10th. She is ADORABLE and Ben and I absolutely love her! She is loud and out going, silly and sweet! She is so funny to watch with Chloie. :)

::Chloie is crawling and gabbering constantly, trying to keep her out of stuff is my new biggest job. Her new favorite thing to do is to turn off the X-Box (the power button is heat sensitive so all she has to do is tap it) and she giggles at the noise it makes when she turns is off and on, Cute but annoying at the same time. haha.

::Bunco night with my aunts is starting tomorrow night. Can't wait to spend some time with them. :) One of my cousins was supposed to join us but just couldn't work it out. :(

::I FINALLY got a dishwasher (our original one broke for the 3rd time about 4 months ago.) Needless to say I was ECSTATIC to come home to a brand new Bosch dishwasher the other day! 

That's pretty much it...

Here are a few fun pictures from the past few weeks. :)

SIX MONTHS!?!

Yep! Our Chloie is six months old! Crazy how  time flies!
Chloie is such a fun little girl.
Some of the things she's doing now are:
-Army crawling (hasn't figured out crawling on her hands and knees yet but, She army crawls in circles and rolls and scoots across the floor {it's pretty fun to watch})
-Sitting up
-She has started reaching (when she wants to be held she hold her arms out for you)
-TEMPER TANTRUMS (She has to be constantly entertained and if you even look away from her be prepared to be smacked  and screamed at.)
-She is gabbering a LOT more now, She says Dada a lot I don't know if she means to but it's constant "dada dada dada"

I am so lucky, minus the occasional temper tantrum, Chloie is so calm and curious. She is so fun to just watch.
I absolutely love taking her to the pool she splashes and plays, and she's like her mom, LOVES to people watch. haha.
She is at such a fun age I wish she would stay little forever but I'm excited to watch her continue to grow.

Ryker Turns One!

Our nephew Ryker turned one last week and we had a small family birthday party for him on Saturday.
He is such a fun happy little boy.
 Royalyn had a bunch of leis and beach balls for a church party and Chloie and Ryker Spent about an hour just playing with them. They were so funny.
I absolutely loved watching Ryk and Chlo play and have fun spending time together.
Chloie is so lucky to have 3 cousins all around the same age, it is going to be so fun watching them all grow up together.
We are going to get to spend a week with Ben's sister Jen and our niece Gwen, who live in Vegas, next week. We are so excited to get to see them.

Bathrooms Complete!!!!

I have officially finished 2 of my 3 bathrooms, My mother in law helped A LOT with the small main floor bathroom and I LOVE IT!

This is my main floor bathroom, the colors match my family room.

This is my master bathroom, this is the second time I've redecorated it. I needed some brighter colors. When we bought our house it was painted all tan, ceilings, walls, baseboards, EVERYTHING TAN! and our carpet is tan and our tile too. So I desperately needed to add some COLOR! I found this shower curtain and fell in love with the colors so my bathroom and bed room are themed around the shower curtain. The bed room is half way done, I'm pretty excited about it.

Chloie is getting so big, so fast!

 I got a video camera for mothers day so here are two of the videos I have...

Chloie is WAY to much like her daddy. She is now kicking things with her left foot. (Ben is a lefty) She reaches for things every now and then but she would rather kick things apparently.

Chloie is a little copy-cat. 

One word: MOM

With mother's day coming up I've been thinking about everything that has happened since last mothers day.

 TWO of My sister-in-laws became mothers, as did one of my cousins, and a THREE of my friends.

And so did I.

SO many babies all in one year!

And becoming a mom has made me appreciate my own mom so much more.

My mom carried me for nine months, went through the unimaginable pain of a 36 hour labor with no medication just to bring me into this world. She fed me and changed me, bathed me and clothed me. She taught me to walk and talk. Helped me learn my ABC's and 123's. She took me to school, to dance, band practice and piano lessons. Supported me through Karate, Gymnastics, Softball, Soccer and all the other things I just had to try. She held me when I cried, and called me out on my lies. She taught me the importance of family and of being unconditionally accepting and loving of my family. She made me the person I am today. My only hope is that I can be the same kind of mom to Chloie as my mom was to me.

I love you mom!

Happy Mothers Day!

Three months old!

Chloie is such a fun baby! She is so wiggly and smiley! She giggles and coos a lot more now.
Her new favorite things to do are:
- Suck her thumb (she use to love her binki but now she takes the binki out and holds it in one hand and sucks her thumb)
- Standing up! She loves to hold on to my fingers and stand up all by her self.
- Watching colorful movies with lots of music. (like fantasia and Tangled)
- Her new best friend is her WHO doll, its pink and orange and VERY fuzzy, She wraps one arm around its neck and falls asleep sucking her thumb.

Chloie has gotten so big. She is recognizing people like her mom and dad (everytime I get ready for work she gets the pouty lip going and the tears, I think she misses me when I leave). She recognizes her Grandma's and Grandpa's. She LOVES her Aunts (Bay and Aubree). and She gets so excited when she see's Paisley and our puppy Allie.

The Invisible Mother

I received this story in my e-mail today and it was just what I needed, I've been having one of those days where no matter what I say Ben just can't seem to hear me.
Chloie is sick and I've had to ask him for help a few times but some of the time he ignores me and the rest of the time he's annoyed that I can't do some things one handed (cause he could if it were him doing it, Ha!).
Finally he's home to help... right... 
Most of the time he is great with helping with Chloie but today was just one of those days where video games are just WAY to important and did you know that they CANNOT be paused... news to me! haha
But this made me feel a lot better... 

Anyways now that I've ranted and got all that out of my system..

This is about kids and the mother, but having a husband some days is just like having another kid...  

 The Invisible Mother

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'   

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??   

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'   

Some days I'm a maid; 'Where's my other sock?, Where's my phone?, What's for dinner?'  

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!  

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.

 In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

1)  No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.

2)  These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

3)  They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

4)  The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was Almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.

No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, 'You're gonna love it there...'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.

Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know... I just did.

The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.

To all the wonderful mothers out there!!  God bless and keep you.

Chloie and Her Swing

Yesterday I walked into Chloie's room and she was staring at the speaker on her swing. Her arms were moving like she was leading the music then she started smiling at the speaker. It was cracking me up. so I thought I'd share it!

Chloie and Mommy's trip to St George and Vegas

For Baylie and Jayce's spring break this year my family decided to go to St George so Chloie and I tagged along. I wanted to meet my cousins new baby girl and spend some time with the family.

Baylie and I drove down together and were pretty much inseparable the entire week, mainly cause Chloie LOVES her Aunt Baylie. 

On Thursday we drove out to Pine valley to get some landscape pictures for Baylie's digital photography class. We stopped and had lunch at a really interesting little restaurant while we were there. And on our way back we stopped in Veyo to get Jayce new head phones and pick up some PIE! 

Baylie's Landscape pictures::

Pictures from Brandin' Iron Steakhouse and Saloon::

Chloie was such a sweet happy little baby while we were there. She missed her daddy (which was obvious by the way she reacted to seeing him, Giggling & Cooing, smiling from ear to ear.)
Chloie is such a snuggly baby that I had to fight to get to hold her, because everyone want to cuddle with her, especially Baylie.
 She absolutely LOVES her Great Grandma Fowlks, every time Grandma-Great got a hold of her she fell asleep almost instantly.
We got to meet My cousins, Dan and Chantelle's, baby girl Haiven while we were there, She is ADORABLE.
And we drove in to Henderson, Nevada so that Chloie's Aunt Jen, Uncle Brian, and Cousins Gwendolyn and Kyle could finally meet her.
We had such a great time and can't wait to go back in May with Ben.

My 21st Birthday, Baby shower, and Chloie's Baby Blessing!

The past two days have been CRAZY.
My aunt Shontel did a Baby Shower for Chloie on the 26th, which was so much fun.

And the 27th was Chloie's Baby blessing, and the first time I've had a ton of people in my house. SCARY.

We had a lot of food and so much of our family came out. It was so fun to sit a talk to everyone and let everyone meet Chloie.

Ben's sister Traci and our nephew Ryker came out for lunch after the blessing and Ryker is just so freaking cute I couldn't help but take a million pictures of him. He is such a sweet happy little boy!

And in the midst of all the chaos I had my 21st birthday, March 26th, and nearly forgot about it. Guess birthdays aren't all that important once your a parent. But after the baby shower we went to TexasRoadHouse for dinner with my parents, Baylie and Jayce to celebrate.

I am so blessed to have such a big family and so lucky to have the majority of them close by, Thank you all for sharing Chloie's Special Day with us! 

Such and Stuff...

I've been working on decorating my house for months now, with alot of help from my mother-in-law, and I'm finally finished with most of it! :) Baylie came out to help me hang some pictures and do some finishing touches.

So here is my Bed room and my master bath, I did the flowers on the pillows all by myself. Shocking, huh? I'm learning to be more creative and crafty..

And this is my front room and stairway, I didn't get pictures of the couch with the cute pillow cause Baylie, Ben and Chloie were all relaxing on the couch and I didn't wanna make them move.

And I got some pictures of Allie and Chloie while I was messing around with my camera...

Two months!

Sharise came up to Salt Lake on her spring break and she stopped by our house to meet Chloie and take some pictures for me! I love ALL of them but here are a few of my favorites!

I can't believe she is two months old already!! :)

The Aquarium

Last week Chloie and I went to the Aquarium with Aunt Whitney, Uncle Jordan, and Cousin Paisley. I had alot of fun just hanging out with my big bro and his little family. I tried to show Chloie the fish, she was interested for a moment then the quiet music and dim lights must have got to her cause she fell alsleep.
Paisley was so cute, I loved watching her pet the sting rays and watch the penguins. She is such a happy energetic little girl, I love her to pieces! and I can't wait until my little Chloie is able to run around and play with her!

Here are some pictures from  our day at the Aquarium

Chloie's first day at church

5 weeks old and going to church for the first time!

She LOVES to lay on her belly. She kicks her feet and scoots herself forward. It's so cute!

Birthday and presidents day pictures

I still haven't found the charger for my camera but my dad had some pictures on his camera.

These pictures are from the day Chloie was born. My parents showed up at the hospital right on cue and came in to the room about 5 minutes after she arrived.

I had woken up at about 2:00am with horrible contractions, but I had been in early labor for the past two weeks so it was nothing new. I had been taking baths every time they would start to slow them down, which is exactly what I did that morning. Only difference this time was that the contractions got stronger. By 5:00am I could barely walk, and I finally decided to wake Ben up around 6:00am. We headed to the hospital and they stuck me in triage for an hour to see if i was progressing, and they finally admitted me around 8:00am. I got my epidural which made me the happiest woman in the world but slowed my labor a little. At about 3:30 my doctor came in and told me that the baby was way to big for me to get her out on my own. He wanted to try a few different things to help and if nothing worked we were lookin' at a C-section. LUCKILY it worked and she was born at 4:02pm.

And the reason for the labor story is to justify the way I look in these pictures, no make up and my hair's a mess. It was a LONG day!

And here are a couple pictures from presidents day with my family.

Paisley and Chloie.

Uncle Jordy, Paisley, and Chloie.

Chloie's First month

Chloie is a month old TODAY! I cannot believe how fast its gone by!

Here are some picures of her throughout her first month!

Day 1-

One week old

Two weeks old

Three weeks old -

I absolutely LOVE this little girl! She is more then I dreamed she would be.

She has brought a beautiful spirit into our home and has brought Ben and I so much closer.

I have a bunch of pictures of her with family and some more recent pictures on my camera but it decided to die today. So I'll get it charged and post them! :)

Lucky

So Two things:

• My Grandma Christensen came over and met Chloie for the first time at my parents house last sunday. She said Chloie looks like My Uncle Shane. Uncle Shane passed away from heart problems when he was 5 so I never met him and I have never seen any pictures of him And now I can't stop wondering what exactly he looked like and what my grandma saw in my daughter that reminded her of him.

• Today while I was trying to calm Chloie down I was listening to Rascal Flatts: Bless The Broken Road, and it got me thinking about how I got to be here with my amazing husband and our baby, Chloie, and how lucky I am.

Two years ago I was 18, working on turning my life around and planning on being independent a while. I had given up all my friends and was focusing on being a better sister to Jordy, Whit, Bay, and Jayce and a better daughter to my parents. I was refusing to date and had successfully gone 9 months without going out with anyone (which was a pretty big deal for me).

I had plans to get into a salon and have a few years to build a clientele and move out on my own. I NEVER though I would be married or be a mother before I was at least 22.

Then I met Ben and my entire life changed.

And now here we are two years later, married and proud parents to a Beautiful baby girl.

I am so happy that all my plans for myself failed miserably, I wouldn't change anything about my life now.

Chloie Kae Andrus

Baby Room!!

"A person's a person, no matter how small"

-Horton

Ben's mom finished painting and decorating our baby's room last week and it turned out so perfect that I had to show it off!

Now that we have everything ready we are just waiting on the baby to be ready to come out. :)