Father's Day

For Father's Day we were blessed with being able to spend time with my dad up in Chelan. My brother, Brett and I, along with our families joined my Dad and step mom, Mary in a day of sun, beach and dinner! I have been so blessed with an amazing father who has always been there for me, unconditionally. I'm glad to say the same thing about Chloe. She has truely been blessed with a father who would give his life and sacrifice anything for his little girl. I'm so thankful for the husband and father that Jeremy has become. Chloe's first time playing in the sand! Playing with Daddy :)

Jayda Faith Bryan

Yesterday on June 7th, we were blessed with a beautiful new addition to our family. Jayda Faith was born here in Wenatchee. We were lucky to be a part of this birth since we didn't get to visit Tessa right away when she was born, since she was born in Seattle. She is absolutely beautiful and we're so excited to have more babies around! Congrats Tim and Jen!! Jayda Faith Bryan Our niece, Tessa waiting for her little sister to arrive! As you can tell she was very excited!!

I haven't posted on this in over a year . . . but boy what a year it's been. Chloe is now a 20 month old toddler! Man how the time flies. My baby is not a baby anymore. It's amazing how much they grow in what seems to be a short amount of time. I am going to really try this time, to keep this blog updated so that everyone can follow along! Not everyone has a Facebook, and this way we can keep in contact!

Gone. . .But not forgotten. . .

Yesterday, January 3rd, I experienced one of the worst days of my life. My beloved grandpa passed away. He had an aortic aneurysm. I got the call from my mom on New Year's Day that he was in the hospital and only time would tell. So I ended up having the worst birthday I've ever had. All I could think of was my grandpa and praying over and over again that he would make it through. Unfortunately his kidneys were failing and the doctors didn't see him making it. Then at 6am I got the call from my cousin that he was gone. . .

I've never had anyone in my family die before this and I must say. . . I've never experienced a pain quite like this. He leaves behind my grandma, the love he'd been married to for 52 years. He was also two months shy of his 80th birthday. He was my only grandpa. . . There is a certain rocking chair in my grandparent's house that ONLY my grandpa sat in. Now all I can do is try to picture my grandpa never sitting in that chair again. He was the funniest man I'd ever met. If you were having a bad day, my grandpa would be the best person to brighten it for you. My favorite joke that he used to always say was, "I only lie when I'm alone or with somebody". I'm going to miss playing cards with him. I'll miss being at their house and "grandpa taking a snooze on the davenport". My grandfather. . . Stanley Darwood . . .will forever be in my heart. RIP Grandpa - May you be in Heaven walking with the angels.



My grandpa and my mom on my wedding day



My amazing grandparents with us on our wedding day

Christmas 2010

This Christmas was unlike any other. We had our own little bundle of joy to celebrate it with us. God has sure brought us to a beautiful place in our lives. Even though she wasn't old enough to open presents or anything like that, it was so fun having Chloe's first Christmas.Unfortunately for her first Christmas, Chloe ended up having a bit of a cold, but that didn't stop us from making the most out of the special day.
We spent Christmas Eve at my mother in law's house where we carried on our tradition of having a birthday cake for Jesus (This year we had a yummy birthday pie instead) and singing "Happy Birthday" to our Lord and Saviour. We each got to open a present which of course were our new snuggy PJ's.
Then we spent the early morning of Christmas still at my mother in law's opening presents and having our traditional delicious breakfast. We then headed over to my brother Brett's house to celebrate with his family along with my mom and step dad. My brother cooked a very yummy turkey! We then had fun playing a new card game that my brother taught us called Dalmoody. I highly suggest playing this hilarious game!
So many presents! :o)

My mom and I spent alot of time in the kitchen baking cookies!

Chloe with all her presents from Grandma Connie's house. What a spoiled girl!

Chloe with auntie Steffy

Chloe with Nona and Papa

newborn pictures

My friend Brandee does photography and she took some AMAZING newborn photos of Chloe for us! Here are just a few that she took :)

She's here!!!!

Our beautiful baby has finally made her appearance into this world! Chloe Grace Calkins was born on October 13, 2010 at 3:01pm. She weighed 7lbs 8oz and was 20 1/4 inches long. We definitely had a long week. We had our doctor's appointment on Monday morning. After no progression, my doctor decided to start my induction that afternoon. They started me on Cervidil to make me dilate, but after three rounds of that it was still unsuccessful. I was not dilating or progressing at all. Then they did Pitocen and found that the contractions I was getting from the Pitocen was actually making Chloe's heart rate drop. They then did an ultrasound and found that Chloe had no amniotic fluid surrounding her. So we had a couple of options: We could either do another round of Pitocen or we could do a C-Section and get her out. If I were to do another round of Pitocen, they said I would AT LEAST be another 20 hours of hard labor. (Considering by this time we had already been in the hospital for two days!!) Of course we opted for a C-Section. I was not about to continue to put my child through that. After they delivered her, the doctor's found a mass on my small intestine that they removed. They still don't know what it is, but it looked almost like another appendix. The surgeon said that it did not look cancerous at all, and that it was probably something I was born with that I've always had. God obviously had a reason for us to opt for a C-Section and with that, I am so thankful. After 5 long days in the hospital, we were finally able to bring our family home. Chloe is doing beautifully (and Mommy's doing great too)!