Annoying tidbits

Is it weird that I really find phrases like LIVE LAUGH LOVE or DANCE LIKE NO ONES WATCHING or LOVE LIKE YOU NEVER HAD YOUR HEART BROKEN annoying as all get out?

I mean sheesh! It's so overplayed. It's like the colors blue and brown together. So commercial. The minute I see an email with something like that on it...it's deleted without being read. No offense to others who think it's cute or fun. But I think it's dumb.

LOL Thanks for reading my rant...until next time.

Emergency Essentials Food Storage Analyzer

What a nifty tool! Do you ever wonder where you stand regarding your food storage? How much do I need? How much do I have? How can I keep track of it all? Well, I just took a look at the Food Storage Analyzer.

The instructions are easy to follow and each tab is easy to navigate. I simply created my login and signed on. Then I was able to enter my family members and their ages. After I hit calculate I was told how many calories each person would need given their age and sex. That is awesome to know!
Then I clicked on the next tab header and entered what I already had in sotrage. After I hit calculate I was told how many days my food storage would last me based on the people I wanted to feed. So easy!!! Don't worry there are ways to enter food from the grocery store and food you would like to enter on your own!!!! Now everything you have in your food storage can be easily counted.
Put in items you want and save for future purchasing on another tab. This makes it so easy to keep track! When you buy more simply update what you currently have or if you use some you can update what is left.
I can't tell you how much I love this feature on emergency preparedness. It's a dream when you are a novice at getting a food storage together!!!

Check it out and tell me what you think!

Faith

I have been soul searching lately and really trying my best to grow personally. I have made some realizations that I think I would like to share. I have a deep love and strong testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that I am a child of God and that He lives. I know that there is a wonderful plan of salvation that will lead me back home to my Heavenly Father. I pray and read the scriptures and attend my church meetings so that I may lead and guide my family in the ways of the Lord. This is very important to me especially in the world we live in today. So what is the problem? I have realized that I do not fully trust the Lord with my life. How can that be? How does that make sense? Well, I have endured many trials in my young life and many of them have brought me to my knees in prayer. But I have been living in fear that something terrible will happen in my life and not trusting my Father in Heaven to take care of me if something does happen. I have learned so much in these past 5 years since Hannah was born but most of my growth has happened in the last 5 months. We were threatened with CPS involvement regarding Hannah's well being and ever since then I have been on a roller coaster of emotions. Anger, fear, frustration, sadness, fear, anxiety, despair, and did I mention fear? It was my worst nightmare coming true. Josh and I have really come together working hard on our family to strengthen ourselves and our children in many ways. Hannah is doing much better and Josh and I feel we have some control in our medical journey. Again, I did not ask my Heavenly Father for mercy. I relied on only myself to get us through this and I tell you it was so lonely. I have realized that I have a tendency to separate myself more from my Heavenly Father in hard times. I suppose it is opposite of most others. Why do I do this over and over? I have a strong faith and it is unshakable, but it is not perfect. I can only perfect myself through Christ and in doing so I must be closer to Him, more like Him, it is a natural progression if striving to have a perfect faith in Him. I know He has never moved from me and it is only myself who has turned away, holding my breath until the storm passes with hope that I can stand on my own two feet once again. What I did not realize is the compassion and love my Savior was giving me the whole time. Just because I have a close relationship with my Heavenly Father does not mean that I will be tested more than I can handle. I have been humbled and know that I have so much to learn. I have been denying myself blessings and that hurts the most. I am so grateful to know that I have en eternal family through Temple marriage. I am so excited to grow closer to my Heavenly Father and feel the Spirit with my husband by my side. I always thought and felt I had something to prove because of where I came from.....but I finally realized that I am loveable just the way I am and I don't need to do things all on my own...I can ask for help from others....I can ask for help from the Lord and I will receive...I am not perfect...but I am worthy and I am loved. Now I am stronger and I have more to give. For this I am so grateful!

Basement

Josh has been working hard on framing our basement! I'm so excited for it to get done and be livable space!! Here are some pictures of the storage room framed up. Josh will build two other walls of shelves in the room and then the middle part will be an office and the front where all the toys are will be a family room. I'll keep updating as more progress is made!

Also, the carpet you see are remnant pieces. Not bad to have something to play on! The lumber is just part of it. We have nearly 100 more upstairs in the garage.

Happy 5th Birthday Hannah!!!!

Hannah's birthday was last Tuesday and we are having a party at Chuck E. Cheese for her tomorrow. These are some pictures of her family party. She opened a few presents and then since Maizer was sad she let him open a couple of her gifts too. How gracious and loving! And since Hannah has dress up clothes that she often puts Maizer in, Josh and I got Maizer his own dress up clothes which made him a very happy little boy! I threw in a pic of Asher for good measure. :) We all had a great time and Hannah is officially a big girl and will start Kindergarten this Fall.

I'm a cutie pie - Yes I am!

Oh Asher! I love you so. :)

Look mom ....look what I can do!

I can get a tube feed with my barbies!!


I can pose for a picture and smile at the same time!


I can make a kid train! (Hannah's idea)


I can hold my baby brother and give him loves all by myself!


I can look cute with hair in my eyes!


I can eat all kinds of stuff!


I can try to crawl, see, I have good form!


I can do pushups!!!


I can just try to stand up! Who needs crawling anyway???

Whats new pictures

Not much is new except that I have a few pics to post. Asher is 7 months old as of yesterday.



Hannah is looking better and doing better. I love her hair this way and lucky me so does she! Hannah will be 5 in March. I can't believe it!



Asher can sit up by himself, army crawl anywhere he wants to go, and is almost 17 pounds. :) He is such a sweetie!



Maizer is a darling little guy who is now 3 years old and he has such a funny sense of humor. He loves to play and read books. He also can put together 25 piece puzzles without ever seeing what they are supposed to be a picture of. He likes to do 3 at a time all mixed up. It's crazy cool!



Daddy with all 3 kiddos. I asked him if we had more where would he put them? LOL He said he has a back and a head. LOL



Daddy with Asher on Christmas Day. What a handsome husband I have! xoxoxox



Here is Hannah holding a blanket I made for her for Christmas. She loves it!



All 3 blankets I made. Hannah's is Hello Kitty and Maizer has Spiderman. My sis Katie has a superhero theme! LOL It has a red backing and Batman and Robin words like "Pow".

Kirby's 2009

Well, this is the day we say goodbye to a year and enter into a new decade. It's crazy to think what has happened this year let alone the last 10 years!

Let's see if I can recap both for you all. :)

2009

We are pregnant with our third child and we bought a house in Feb. I close my "daycare" and we move in to our beautiful home. Hannah turns 4 and finishes her year of preschool. We start our new ward at church which changes after 2 months to another whole new ward by boundary changes. We give birth to a baby boy we finally named Asher. He was late in coming by a week. Josh's mom comes to visit us for the first time in 2 years. Hannah takes a nose dive in her weight so we try to start tube feeding her again. She starts a new year in preschool and gets sick constantly. Maizer starts to talk alot better and interacts with Hannah more. Josh's sister Mia comes up to visit and meets the kids for the first time. We go on vacation to Oregon and see the zoo, Portland, stay in a yurt for a night, see the falls and fish hatchery. Can't forget IKEA!!! We get back to find out Hannah is in dire need of body fat. We were threatened with CPS regarding Hannah's present starvation state. ???? Don't ask. Very long story that makes Josh and me hostile. Josh and I decided to take matters into our own hands and now we feed Hannah 3 times a day through her tube and she has gained 3 1/2 pounds!!! The baby is about to crawl and is eating baby food, Maizer turned 3, my sister Katie moved up and is living with us, we pulled Hannah out of preschool and keep her out of church except Sacrament to keep her healthy for now. I am down 37 pounds since giving birth. And last but not least, we had a wonderful Christmas and enjoy our new ward. Whew! I am sure I am missing something in there.

As for the last decade, I have changed more than I can say. I have grown as a woman and a mother. I have struggled, lost, and fought for a better life. I have earned, learned, and blossomed. I have reached goals and gained potential. I have lifted up and fallen down. This all sounds so cliché, but it's true and if I looked into the eyes of my 10 year younger self I would be pleased. That is all that matters isn't it? And if this is what I have accomplished in 10 years, I can't believe what the next 10 may hold for me. I should write a book! LOL

Take care my dear family and friends. I truly wish the happiest of years this next decade for you all.

Love,
Chloé

And one of my fave Christmas photos from Kirby Christmas 2009

I love you for forever Josh .... I wouldn't want to spend my eternity with anyone else. xoxoxo