Chloe is almost 14 months old now. She is trying so hard to say real words, and I’m trying really hard to figure out what she is trying to say. She tries to say “all done” after she’s done eating, which is really cute. The poor baby is still working on her molars. Her nose is all runny and she keeps coughing. She’s never actually been sick before, which is such a blessing, but I’m starting to wonder if she has a cold or something this time. Her nose always gets yucky when she’s teething, but she doesn’t cough with it.  She is such a funny little girl, and I couldn’t imagine life without her.  I’m trying to enjoy every day with her because I never know when it will be my last day with JUST her to love on. We have been working with her on “be soft”. She used to smack my belly and face really hard. She finally pats nicely or pets your face. I’m hoping that she will remember to be soft with her little sister. I don’t think she’ll be too bad. She hits her cousin, Isaiah, on top of the head with her hand.. but at least she doesn’t try to attack him or anything. I’m waiting for the day Isaiah can walk by himself because he takes notes on every time she hits him. He’s gonna get her back one day!

Baby girl 2 is doing well.. growing a lot. She is REALLY hurting me now when she moves. I don’t remember being in this much pain when I was pregnant with Chloe.  My back is KILLING me, and it hurts to move. My legs have been really sore and my feet, too. I feel like all I do is complain and whine… It’s really difficult to be this far into things, and try to chase and play with a one year old. I’m trying to keep the house clean, and we have so much to do before she arrives.  We have to paint what is going to be our bedroom in the basement, and get some rugs for the floor. They are planning to finish out the basement completely, but we need to get moved down there ASAP so that I can get the new baby’s room set up. There isn’t room for two cribs in Chloe’s tiny room. I’m anxious to get going on all of this, and I want to be able to help with it… I don’t know if I’m ready to be the mother of two, but ready or not here she comes!!!!

My little sister got married last weekend, and she made such a beautiful bride, and I know she’ll make an equally beautiful wife. It was so great to see her, and all of my family again.  My aunt and uncle surprised everyone by bringing my grandparents.  My grandparents are in TERRIBLE shape, and truly probably won’t be around much longer. I honestly didn’t think I would ever get the opportunity to see them again since they live so far from where we are.  I LOVE them so much, and it was hard to say good-bye to them.  It was hard to say good-bye to Amanda since she will now be a resident of California.. over 33 hours away from me 🙁 BUT, she is happy, and that is what matters. I didn’t see her too often anyway. We won’t be going home any more this year unless something bad happens, so I won’t get to see her at Christmas. We can’t really afford all of the gas, and it is getting really hard on us to travel 7 hours, stay for 2 days, and travel another 7 hours. It will be especially difficult with a brand new baby. It was hard enough with Chloe, and she was a little older.

Pray for us as we start this new chapter of life. It’s going to be a big adjustment for everyone, but I am really excited for it all.. just nervous, too!

Life has been a whirlwind lately!  A week and a half ago, we packed up our lives and moved farther north (I really must be crazy..) to Flint, MI to serve at a new church alongside a really wonderful pastor and his wife.  We are working with the youth group here, and truly loving every minute of our new life. We were worried that Scott was not going to have a job before we left the old one, but God faithfully provided the perfect one right on time. Things are so wonderful here. We miss our friends from Garden City, but we are so close by that we can visit occasionally. I had been trying to avoid buying groceries so that we wouldn’t have to move with a bunch of stuff, or throw things away, so we were eating horribly. I have really enjoyed eating healthy meals again, and cooking yummy food.

The baby is doing wonderfully. I am 33 1/2 weeks along now. I will be induced at 39 weeks since we are staying with the same doctor and hospital. She is measuring big now, so it might be a good thing. I hate the idea of being induced, but I know that it will be the best option right now. She is an active little booger, and moves all over the place. She gets the hiccups a lot, and sometimes it feels like she is taking her finger and drawing circles on the inside of my belly. My goal was to only gain 25 pounds this pregnancy, and I was doing GREAT, but then she has been having these insane growth spurts and I have gained 26 or so as of now. 🙁 At least I can see that it is all belly. I also have an “abnormally large amount” of fluid in there.. So, I told my sister to wear her water shoes since I will be a bridesmaid in her wedding when I am 36 weeks along.. I am just praying my water doesn’t break, and that I don’t faint or do anything crazy! lol! I tend to get extremely emotional at weddings as it is, and my sissy is moving to California and I don’t know when I will get to see her after the wedding.. soooo I may be a mess!!!

Chloe is getting bigger, sillier, and smarter every day. She is 13 months old now. She has really enjoyed our new house. The kitchen, dining, and living rooms are all one giant room so she just runs back and forth yelling “AHHHHHH!” hehe! I love that little girl. She gives kisses all the time now, and will come running across the room just to give hugs. She still doesn’t talk much, but she is advanced in everything else. I know that she understands things, but just isn’t vocalizing them in words that we can understand. If you ask here where her ball is, for example, she will go find it and bring it to you. She will try to say words but they all come out sounding very similar. She will say “more” and do the sign for it… but more means “I want that now” in her mind. She says “dada” all the time, and knows who dada is, but “mama” is food.. She says “mamamamamama” the whole time she is eating. She can point to our belly buttons (mommy’s has become a toy) and can point out noses.  She loves reading books still and points at everything saying “dat” She is getting so tall, and it’s making her look like a little skinny butt. Her weight was right on at her appointment though, and she is way above for her height. The doctor said to keep doing what we’re doing because she looks perfect. She eats like a moose, but is so active that it doesn’t worry me at all. She is going through a picky phase and will throw a lot of food on the floor. I’m ready for this phase to end. She usually chows down on fruits and veggies but for some reason won’t eat them most of the time. She is working on two more front teeth, and it looks like there are swollen bumps in the back of her mouth where her molars are working their way in. Teething is the pitts. She has started drooling like a st. bernard again, and wakes up fussy at night. Overall though, she is such a happy girl. She wakes up in the morning and plays in her crib for about an hour. I feel guilty leaving her in there, but I know that it is best for her, since I won’t be able to fetch her out immediately when the new baby comes. I can hear her giggling and playing through the baby monitor. She does this after nap time, too. All we have to do is lay her in her crib with her blanket and binky and she puts herself to sleep. It has been this way for a LOOONG time, and it’s so wonderful. I’m sure it will change for a while once her life gets turned upside down with a new sister, but maybe we will get lucky!
The next time I blog, I could have another baby in my arms! 🙂 I am getting more and more excited, and more anxious. I worry about Chloe getting jealous of her new sister, and wonder how I can prepare her for such changes.. Tons of mothers of done it, so I assume I can make it work, too. There’s plenty of love to go around in this house!!!

I guess since it has been a month and a half I should update!! Baby girl is doing great. She is getting bigger and stronger every day, and is kicking me harder and harder. I’ve also been feeling the braxton hicks contractions a LOT. :/ I’m only 26 weeks, so it stinks that I’m already feeling them. Sometimes I have to lay down to get them to stop. I’m having a lot of “back labor” type pains lately. My back tightens and loosens rhythmically. The placenta previa is gone! Praise the Lord!!! I have finished all of the heart tests. I wore a heart monitor for over 2 weeks, and the doctor went on vacation so I am still waiting on the results of all of that.
There are going to be some big changes taking place in the Pullen household over the next month.  They are exciting, but completely nerve wrecking. I can’t really say what they are right now, but just pray for us. My family knows the situation, and soon everyone else will, too.

Chloe is such a big girl now. I am doing the finishing touches on her birthday party.  Her theme is “Look Whoo’s Turning One” so she is going to have owls. Her big girl bedroom is owls now. 🙂 She is walking all over the place, and has figured out how to run a little!! She loves playing with balls, and carrying a purse around the house. She still doesn’t really say many words. “mama” “dada” “boomboom” “baba”.. those are really the only ones that we can tell what she is saying. She babbles  A LOT!!  She also loves looking at books and pointing at the pictures. It sounds like she is trying to say “that” (dat) when she points. She can also point at your nose when you say “Where is mommy’s nose?” But, she can’t figure out CHLOE’S nose yet.  She is more and more fun every day. She has 6 teeth, and it seems like she has another one working its way out.  She eats EVERYTHING in sight. The only food she doesn’t seem to like is mashed potatoes.  She weighs around 22 pounds according to the Wii fit, but we will see at the doctor’s office. She doesn’t get a bottle anymore, only sippy cups!! She gives open mouth kisses, which are adorable. Sometimes she will even give hugs.  She waves and blows kisses, when she wants to that is.

Life is fun and crazy with a “toddler”, but I am loving it!!

Chloe has been standing by herself for about a week now. I knew it was only a matter of time before she started taking steps by herself, too.  Today, I had a cup with a straw in it (which Chloe LOOOVES to play with).  I set it down beside me. She was already standing up playing with something and all of the sudden took off after the cup.  I don’t know why she can’t be normal and take one step and fall on her butt, but she took about 5 steps, grabbed the cup, and sat down.  

Chloe is still crawling all over the house! She is also trying so hard to walk. If she would just get the confidence to let go of our hands, she would be off.  She pretty much supports herself completely now, just has to hang on to a finger of ours. We just had our first mother/daughter road trip. My sister, Amanda, graduated from the University of Illinois on the 14th, and Scott was unable to come along.. as usual.. so we went without him.  I drove all night to get there Wednesday.  She did great! She played with everyone, and beat up her cousin Isaiah. haha! She will regret that when Isaiah can walk because he is already her size. I was really worried about the trip back to Michigan because Chloe screams in her carseat, and I knew I was too tired to drive at night. God really answered our prayers because she napped, played, and babbled the whole way.. all seven and a half hours of the trip.  She never once screamed. We stopped at a gas station with a McDonald’s so we could both eat.  She is eating 2 jars of baby food at every meal, plus eating table food! She screamed at me if I didn’t feed her fast enough.  Last night she ate 2 jars of baby food and a plate of spaghetti for dinner.  I can’t keep up with how much she eats. I have to feed myself to feed the baby, but Chloe doesn’t like that. She wants to be fed without me taking a bite of food.

Chloe is crawling really well now. The crazy girl is all over the house and into everything.  Last night she pulled up to a standing position holding onto the couch. Now, it seems that there is no stopping her.  She is getting to be more and more fun with each passing day.  It breaks my heart how quickly she is growing and changing, but fills me with joy at the same time.  I am glad I have another little bundle of joy on the way so I get to do this all over again! 🙂
We are going on our first real vacation Friday. My wonderful Aunt Ann gave us a condo to stay in for a week that is RIGHT ON THE BEACH in Myrtle Beach, SC.  I am so excited. Scott and I went to South Carolina for a day during our honeymoon and I fell in love.  If I could live there, I would do it in a heart beat! My father-in-law is going with us, too, because we needed someone 25 to be with us for the condo.  Sometimes being young really stinks, but Jim is hilarious, so it will be a lot of fun! I am so excited to spend a week by the ocean, even though it is supposed to only be in the 60s.  This week it has been near the 80s there, so of course it would cool off for us to go! ha!  I am excited to see Chloe playing in the sand, but worried about her eating it! YIKES!!
I still find motherhood to be completely wonderful.  THIS is what I am supposed to do with the rest of my life.. no career for me! Mommy and Wife is far better than all of the money in the world!

It is Chloe’s first Valentine’s Day. I know it is not a big deal, but this has always been one of my favorite holiday’s.  It is cheesy, romantic, and fun! She is my Valentine this year because her daddy has a basketball game tonight, so I won’t get to spend it with him.  This is our eighth Valentine’s Day together, and we have only actually spent one together.
Chloe is getting so big now. Her 6 month checkup is tomorrow, so we will see how big she actually is.  She is army crawling on the floor now, and she rolls all over the place.  It is especially fun when I am changing her diaper and I see a naked booty rolling across the floor! She has actually figured out how to jump in her jenny jump-up, too! She sits up by herself for quite a while before falling over. Her hair is growing back, too.  She has a few hairs left over from when she was born, and they are SOO long. I could be putting her hair in a ponytail if it hadn’t fallen out! haha! (not that I would..)
She eats all kinds of cereals now, and she has tried squash, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes and peaches.  She has loved it all with the exception of peaches.  She REFUSED to eat the peaches, and she wouldn’t even eat the cereal. I tried giving her just cereal later that day and she still wouldn’t trust me.  I tried peaches for a couple of days and she wouldn’t have it!
We are getting family/6 mo. pictures taken on Friday and I am very excited!

These stupid teeth will NOT show up and quit torturing my poor baby.  I have done everything I can to make her comfortable and it is just not working for her.  I am quite sick of feeling helpless.  I am quite irritated in general.  She cries all day, and I feel bad for her because I would cry all day, too.. but all of that crying has been giving me severe headaches and I have had a stiff neck for a month… I just want to rest and my husband is literally never home during Chloe’s waking hours anymore.  I have become a single parent and I am still MARRIED!! I am just fed up with the way things are. My dog sits in her kennel all day because it is too cold for her to be outside and she will not quit terrorizing the house when she is out. I can’t handle a demon dog and a teething baby all by myself when I feel like I am barely holding it together.  I will PAY someone to take this stupid dog from us! lol Just pray for Chloe that these teeth will break through and relieve her of her pain.  We have a doctors appointment for her this week to get her checked out because the poor baby barely poops and when she does it is extremely painful for her, so maybe they can suggest something for her teeth.  I refuse to put whiskey on her gums so don’t even suggest that, please!