Chloe Elizabeth White

It's been an embarrassingly long time since I last posted on here. As I was looking back at some of the last posts I wrote I was a little heart broken that I haven't kept up as well as I should have. I forget so many of our every day happenings and it was so fun to look back and read about it all again! I have posted the birth stories of all of our kids on here because it seems to be the easiest place journal it in a way that it can be shared with family and friends easily. So in keeping with that tradition here is Chloe's pregnancy and birth story!

*The Pregnancy*
Everything about Chloe's coming into our lives was perfect (even though she did make us wait an awfully long time for her). My pregnancy with Chloe was awesome. Just awesome. I loved being pregnant the entire time. I felt great the ENTIRE time. I had no morning sickness, really no indication that I was even pregnant aside from feeling slightly tired some days. I had such a lack of symptoms that I was honestly a little shocked to see a baby on the monitor during our first ultrasound! Even at
the end when I was overdue the only thing that was hard was all the questions and the anticipation. I was SO ready to finally meet my little girl! I never got too uncomfortable though and was even still able to sleep well at the very end. Chloe was our little beautiful surprise. At the beginning of 2014 Kyle and I talked very briefly about the possibility of our family being complete. We were both somewhat leaning toward being done. Three boys all pretty close in age has definitely been a fun and challenging experience and we weren't sure we were up for more of a challenge. We decided we would make the official decision in October of 2014. We had planned on really praying about it and talking about it and attending the temple as frequently as possible during this time to prepare ourselves to reach an inspired decision. So life continued on and come March I was really late. I honestly didn't think anything of it since we were actively preventing. I thought maybe it was due to a more rigorous workout routine. I even had the fleeting thought that maybe, just maybe I was pre-menopausal (Ha!) I happened to have a conversation with my sister Cassandra who'd just delivered my little nephew Bennett. She asked when we were maybe going to have another baby and I told her we'd talk about it more come October. I also said, "I am a little worried though because my period is really weird lately and I'm thinking I may be pre-menopausal." I told her that I was like 20 days late. She asked if I had taken a pregnancy test and I just laughed and said no, but I really doubted that I was pregnant. That conversation was enough to get me thinking *maybe* I was pregnant. So I went out right after I got off the phone with her to pick up a pregnancy test so I could rule that out and be on my merry way. I tested when I got home and it immediately read a very clear and obvious POSITIVE! I sent Kyle a text and said, "I think I might be pregnant." he wrote back and said, "yeah but haven't you thought that before and it was a false alarm?" I sent him a picture of the test in response and he said, "give me a second. I'm going to call you."--and so began the beginning of Chloe coming into our lives. If I could have a pregnancy like that guaranteed every single time I might actually consider having more!

Whoa! May?!? When Kyle said I should really update our blog he wasn't kidding that it'd been awhile. I didn't realize my last post was in May. Lot's of changes in the White household have occurred in the past few months and we keep asking ourselves and other more seasoned parents when or if life ever slows down/gets easier. Where do I even begin?

We are no longer Arizona White's for one. A change that has been REALLY hard for the whole family. I can't even put into words how in LOVE we are with Arizona. The state, the people, the wards we've been in there, the schools, THE PEOPLE, and yes, even the weather. I know what a shocker that must be for some people who think it's like living in a furnace...on the sun. If you can live through the 2-3 months of the year that are set to broil then the rest of the year is awesome! We just love that place and I'm pretty sure people here are getting tired of us using sentences like this , "well in Arizona...there's no tax on food," or "well in Arizona...you never have to worry about driving on ice or snow", or "well in Arizona road construction is almost always done at night..." OR "well in Arizona Landon had an amazingly awesome (totally free) preschool and Chase was having the Kindergarten experience of a life time!" You get the idea. We find ourselves sorely missing our friends quite often and we've come to the conclusion that people are just different in AZ. Both Chase and I have had our tears over missing our sweet friends there.

Anyhow! A few months ago we started thinking that we need to be closer to family though. We felt the need for our kids to live closer to some grandparents. We needed that, and the timing felt right. Kyle had just got yet another promotion at Apollo Group but as usual, compensation wasn't competitive enough for his position across the board and where he felt he should be with a Master's Degree. So we thought we'd send out some resumes! A few in Idaho, a few in Arkansas (both places where the grandparents are). We were in no hurry, but just thought we'd reach out and see what happens. Within a matter of a couple weeks we were off enjoying ourselves during a family reunion in Idaho when Kyle was called and asked to come in for a couple of interviews at Melaleuca while we were in town. We were so excited! Everything sounded absolutely amazing...but the job they really wanted him for was not currently open. A few days later Kyle got a call from Wal-Mart's corporate office in Bentonville, AR. He had a phone interview, then less than a week later had a web interview, then they flew him out for a face to face interview about 2 weeks after that. It seems like everything went so fast during that time and soon they were calling him with an offer and a start date for his employment. So just as we were getting into a picture perfect schedule with Chase being in Kindergarten and LOVING his friends and his amazing teacher; Landon being in a wonderful preschool and getting to ride the bus 4 days a week (the highlight of his life)...we moved!

We are now here still adjusting to life in Arkansas and falling in "like" with out new stomping grounds. There's no question that it is BEAUTIFUL here. I mean, really. The leaves are changing colors and there are so many trees for miles that as you drive all you can see is a thick canopy of reds oranges, yellows, and greens. When I drive Chase to preschool in the morning there is mist coming out of the forest of trees on either side of the road making it look like a scene straight out of a magazine. I've never seen anything like it! We've heard nothing but good about the Bentonville school district and we're excited for Chase to start Kindergarten (again) next fall. It's supposedly one of the top school districts in the nation because of the insane funding it receives from the Walton family (Wal-mart). The state however just set forth a new law that requires that a child needs to have turned 5 on or before August 1st which made Chase 7 days too short of making that deadline. He was a little confused to be going to preschool again, but has been really enjoying it. He makes friends SO easily and is such a good boy in class. He's the total opposite of Landon in personality and is quite a bit more dependent on us and others. So he tends to be a bit of a follower, but we've noticed that he is great at picking out good friends.

Landon goes to the same preschool as Chase but on alternating days and has been loving it. He was getting speech therapy at his preschool in Arizona and had qualified to go to school for free there. We tried to get him in the same situation here but they had to re-test him and he didn't qualify anymore. He went through a little developmental spurt during the time we made the move and his speech just took off! They said he had articulation and pronunciation at a 5-6 year old level and where he'd qualified in Arizona because of his expressive language (lacking certain vocabulary) he's now at a 4-5 yr old range for expressive. We're so proud of his independence! We had been holding off on toilet training him because he seemed so disinterested. I finally thought I'd just take him to the store and let him pick out a package of special underwear, a toilet, and some toilet treats. We got home and he was so excited to put on his new underwear and test out his Lightening McQueen toilet! He hasn't looked back ever since. He was seriously the easiest toilet training experience EVER. He has literally had maybe 5 accidents total in 5 months! Amazing!

Kellan started crawling about 3 weeks ago FINALLY! He didn't stop there though and has quickly picked up on pulling himself up on anything and everything and cruising around the house. He loves his new mobility! He is SO chubby and has the cutest little personality. We are all still under his adorable spell. He still makes us all melt with those chubby kissable cheeks of his, and pink pouty lips, and head full of BLONDE fluffy hair, and deep beautiful blue eyes. We can't get enough of this cutie!!! He's been babbling and talking more lately too. He says, "Momma", "Dadda", "Ni-Ni" (night night), "Babba" (bottle) and "Nana". He has 6 teeth with more coming in all the time now and is DROOLING like a fool! We've never had a drooler so this is a whole new experience for us.

I'm sorry I don't have time to post pictures right now. I know posts aren't half as fun without pictures but I'm just impressed that I'm even posting something right now period! Baby steps.

Back to Normal? Never.

Our lives have been turned wildly upside down with the arrival of our third little man, Kellan! He is deliciously soft, sweet, smells like heaven, and has completely captured all of our hearts! We are absolutely smitten by this little kitten! Chase tells me almost daily that he has "big heart" or "big love" for Kellan. Landon is constantly greeting Kellan in the morning with a sing songy, "Cute Baby!!" They shower him with kisses hugs and affection and he reciprocates with the most heart melting smiles imaginable. Nothing about having a third child has been easy from pregnancy to labor to life after baby. I was warned that the 3rd child was the hardest for many of my friends and family so I thought if I imagined it being really really hard it couldn't possibly be as hard as I had imagined. It is...and some. I've had to throw schedules, planning, and naps out the window. I've had to realize that some days I just won't be able to keep the house clean, or get in a workout, or even cook dinner, and definitely not all three! We would not trade in our newly hectic lives with baby Kellan for anything though. When he smiles and coos at us it makes all the hard work totally worth it! Also, he's growing up way too fast. I had my first break down yesterday when I was looking at how long he is and how fast he's growing. We've talked about making him our third and final babe and looking at how fast he's moving through these precious infant days is tearing me apart!

I'm not even going to try to catch up on everything I've missed blogging about because, let's face it, I can barely remember what happened yesterday! So, I'll just try and recap the bigger events we've had occur in the past few months.

Kellan was born January 1st just 12 minutes shy of having his birthday on January 2nd and dangerously close to being delivered via c-section. I was induced 2 weeks early according to my due date and MUCH too early according to my body. I was only 25% effaced and maybe 1 cm dilated. During my pregnancy I had excess amniotic fluid (there can be too much of a good thing) the term for such a condition is called polyhydramnios. I have had like a gallon too much of amniotic fluid during all of my pregnancies and it's never concerned my doctors before. I had a new doctor (regrettably) with Kellan however and they jumped all over this and could care less about my previous medical history. They ran multiple tests, sent me to specialists, and ordered high risk ultrasounds to try and figure out what was causing my polyhydramnios only to find out what I had been telling them all along was in fact true (shocker). My wee little water babes like very cushioned homes during their 9 month residency, in fact, they demand it! They induced me early because there was no cause to be found (????) and they just said, "well, you're full term, we might as well just get that baby out!" Who wouldn't want that, right? Me. I was perfectly happy waiting out the rest of my pregnancy and being able to deliver naturally again. I pictured it being just as enjoyable as Landon's delivery and thought I'd even go without an epidural this time. In the end we agreed to induction. It was a long, hard, and painful day and the only thing that kept me happy was that at the end of it all we would finally get to meet our sweet boy.

My mom was able to come out for a week after we brought Kellan home and she spoiled us and pampered us the entire time. Chase and Landon loved their long outings to the park giving Kellan and I a chance to sleep, we had a constantly sparkling house, stocked fridge and cupboards, and hot, delicious meals 24/7. I seriously have the best mom I could ever ask for. She made life SO easy for us while she was here!

A couple weeks later luck struck again and we had more visitors! Kyle's parents came for Kellan's baby blessing as well as the Mackey's. We has so much fun catching up and playing games and staying up late just enjoying the full house. Chase still talks about what a dream come true it was to have his beloved cousin Payton to play with all day long.

Here's a recap of some of the things that have happened since Kellan's arrival...

Chase and Landon took swim lessons and both did wonderfully!! Chase can swim a good distance on his own and Landon is doing great with his kicks and arms he just can't keep himself afloat for very long and sinks like a rock!

We are doing a program called Parents as Teachers that we LOVE!!! I will have to go into depth more about that in a different post. It's a free program provided to families (made possible by cigarette tax dollars) where our "Parent Educator", Pam, comes out 2x a month and does fun developmental activities with the kids and me. Today we made Ziploc bag books. Chase chose a letter and looked through magazines to cut out things he found that started with the letter "C" and put them in the Ziploc bags we'd taped together. After he was done he told us a story with the items he'd put in his book. Landon did the same thing but with things that make sounds, he found a dog, cat, car, etc. and he told us about the sounds they make when he read us his Ziploc book. Pam even brought something for Kellan! She brought me a bunch of information on baby massages and different techniques and strokes and the importance of baby massage and attachment formation for babies. Very interesting stuff! I'm excited to make that part of our daily routine.

Kyle started another position at Apollo Group. Another step in the right direction to where he'd like to end up and he really likes the work he's doing.

I got released from YW's, a very bittersweet experience. I was relieved of the burden that the calling had become but I knew I'd really miss the girls. They were SO sweet and put together the most thoughtful and sweet thank you card. I got released, officially, the week before New Beginnings and I wasn't planning on attending, but a few of the girls insisted that I come to it so I gave in. I just LOVE those girls to pieces! They surprised me (and embarrassed me) by taking some time at the end of the program in front of family, the bishopric, old leaders and new leaders (none of which had any idea what they were doing) and called me up to present the card and a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I got to give each of them a hug and tell them how much I'd miss them. And I still miss them a ton!

I got to relax for no more than 3 days before I was given a new calling as the CTR 5 teacher. It had been almost a year since they'd had a reliable teacher for this class and people kept asking to be released or not accepting the calling at all. Sad. I absolutely LOVE serving in the primary and I adore my 9 little 5 year olds. They are so smart and say the most profound things sometimes! They make me realize just how incredible this young generation really is.

                                         Chase and Landon at swim lessons!

That's all I can think of for now...I can't guarantee I will be more consistent about updating, but I'll try. Three kids are no joke!! At least I'm a little caught up now! 

Recently...

At the Zoo with my little animals!

First and last belly picture for this pregnancy.

I think this was at 37 weeks large and in charge!


Our little chubby babe! Looking awfully cozy...

At the Zoo on the carousel!


Halloween! Ghost and Ghost Buster:)

and Fire Fighter and his rescued burn victim (yes, he's showcasing a dough hook)

I figured I'd better start posting something since I only have about 4 weeks give or take before life gets even more crazy around here! So here is a very condensed summary of what's new at the White's!

Kyle ran his second marathon in October and PR'd! He didn't do as well as he'd hoped (I think he's WAY too hard on himself) but not many people can say they hoofed 26.2 miles! So we think he's pretty stinking awesome!! Other than that he's just been busy with work and his church calling. Between the two we don't get to see much of him until the weekends if then. Luckily because of accumulated overtime he's been able to take a couple "Daddy" days recently. We've gone to the Bounz House and the Zoo on those days and we've had a grand old time!

I had my gymnastics recital at the beginning of this month and classes ended. The recital went really well. My little gymnasts did a superb job and I was really proud of them. It's been weird not having classes anymore but kind of nice to just be able to concentrate on having a baby now. The pregnancy is going well for the most part but I have definitely felt more aches and pains this time around though. Mainly just ligament and back pain but it's been enough to make me slow down a lot more then I did during Landon's pregnancy. I've shelved my running shoes for the time being and I just stick to lower impact exercise for now. The baby is growing marvelously though and we are getting more and more anxious to snuggle this little guy as the time gets closer.

Chase has been a HUGE help to me and I am so glad to have him around on those days that I just feel "broken". He has the most entertaining personality too. He is always saying the funniest things and he remembers EVERYTHING. He quotes movies all the time! We will say something like, "Whoa Chase! You did that by yourself" or something similar to which he'll reply while striking a super pose, "Yes I did! YOINK!" (quoting Rhino from Bolt).

Another funny Chase moment was at the zoo the other day we were looking at the Rhinos and the gazelles which share an exhibit. At first we couldn't see the rhinos so we were looking at the gazelles and Kyle saw a big pile of rhino droppings and knowingly misinformed Chase that this was the handy work of the gazelles. Chase stood there for a moment and pondered this while also looking at the gazelles then he said, "What big poo to come from such little bums!"

We have also started the process of moving Landon into Chase's room. We stacked their bunk beds and Chase sleeps on top. The first night went really well. Last night however was a huge fail! We ended up trying a suggestion that a friend gave us of putting a sheet up as a curtain around the lower bunk. I jokingly told Landon after doing this, "OK now you stay put behind your "curtain of shame" (ya know...Baljeet from Phineas and Ferb?) after which Chase yelled, "I want a curtain of shame!!"

Landon is just a little man now. He is super stubborn and independent and still oh so mischievous! The only way he goes into nursery without a fight is if we let him walk down to the room on his own and open the door then shut it in our faces before we can say another word. He likes to do everything by himself and if you help him out with something he felt he could do on his own, he'll lay down a wrath like none other. He likes to talk our ears off and tell us about all the naughty things his brother and Dodger do. He wants to go to preschool like Chase SO bad. I'll let him put on a little backpack when we take Chase to preschool and today I came into the room to check on him while he was napping and found that he'd fallen asleep wearing his backpack! He loves to wrestle Chase and Kyle and pretty much any other child hes sees. It doesn't matter if knows them or not, and whether or not they are willing to wrestle with him he will take them down! Fortunately he's pretty gentle on me for the most part although I do get tackled with a big bear hug every so often:)

That's about it for now! Hopefully my next post will have pictures of our soon to be new addition and not just scanned ultrasound pics!

Happenings...

Baby boy #3! You can see his little hand resting under his chin while he snuggles up to the placenta. Both of our boys and myself sleep with our hands under their chins like this when we sleep on our stomachs. It was fun to see that this little guys already fits right in! So cute!

Birthday pictures!

Landon 2 years old

Chase 4 years old!

Cute boys!

The family with our new Master's Graduate!

Future graduate Parker Daniel! His talented mom CREATED this graduation outfit! It was super impressive and he looked oh so adorable rocking it!

Panda! He made faces and woo'ed the people behind us for the majority of the graduation. The guy behind me kept saying how much more entertaining a grauduation is when he's sitting behind such a cute little boy:)

Keynote speaker

Chase being a good boy during a loooooong graudation.

Our graduate!

I really have to get better at this updating business...We've had so much going on and I feel like I've missed being able to post about a lot of it. In a mad effort to do some catching up here are some recent happenings in the White family!

Kyle finally graduated from his Master's program in August!!! This was big for us. It's seemed like it has been a looooong journey but he finally finished with flying colors. He's been able to get a lot more done with that off his plate and we're glad to be able to see him a little more often now:) He's also training like a mad mad for his fast approaching marathon. He'll be running in the St George Marathon this year on October 1st. His 2nd marathon! His training is going well and he hasn't had any injuries. I know he'll be amazing come October! We're so proud of our marathon running master's grad!

I am loving my calling in YW's more and more. My girls are beyond amazing! They are such genuinely good girls. They make making right choices and standing up for what you believe in look easy. I don't know if all the youth in the church are like this or if I just lucked out but we've got a great group of girls that is ever expanding. I now have 5 Mia Maids (I started with only 3 and only 2 of those were active)! One of which is getting baptized this Saturday. So exciting! When I first was called in we had maybe 10 girls total we now have about 25 most of which are active. I've also started teaching gymnastics out of our home recently. This week was our second week. I love it so far! I have great classes and the kids seem to be catching on really well. I'm really looking forward to the fun things I have planned for this session! I am only doing the preschool age group this session of 3-5 year olds and it's been perfect for me while I'm pregnant. Depending on how things go with baby and how crazy things are with three boys I might do a spring session and take on the 5-8 year olds also at that time. We'll have to see! I love teaching gymnastics though. It's nice to be able to bring in a little extra while doing something that I really enjoy and look forward to.

This pregnancy has been great! I have had such a lack of any pregnancy symptoms and the ones I have had have been the good ones, healthier skin and nails and such. The only complaint I've had is that I have the appetite of 3 UFC fighters. It's been HORRIBLE! As a result I have already gained 15 pounds and I'm only half way through! I don't like where this is heading...I seriously feel like my stomach is bottomless. I almost never feel full or satisfied after eating. I hate that! Still we are so excited to welcome yet another little boy into our family in January! I LOVE that! I've slowed down a bit on my workouts since I became pregnant and I only run 11 miles each week total. It feels great to stay active and hopefully that's counteracting my rampant eating escapades.

Chase started his second semester of preschool in August and he is just growing up so stinking fast! His teacher said that during one of the first classes this semester that they were cutting and pasting some pictures they'd colored and Chase had remembered doing a similar activity from his previous semester. When the teacher had finished explaining what they kids would be doing Chase chimed in and said, "let me know if anyone needs help. I can help you when I'm done with mine." Hahaha! He is SO SO SO much like Kyle. He says the funniest things and he reminds me so much of his daddy with the way he acts. He loves to help me out during the day and keep Landon in line. He's always asking if he can help me clean and he jumps to do little favors for me. Again, Kyle. I have a feeling this little guy will be a GREAT help to me after the baby comes. He's found an insane passion for the Wii and asks to play it the moment he wakes up! I don't know how I feel about this. Seeing as I didn't grow up with video games, I've never been a big fan and I don't like the addiction it can cause. We allow him an hour of Wii play each day and he's usually really good at respecting the rules. He loves to sword fight and do bowling on it and looks pretty darn cute when he's concentrating so hard.

Landon is my little momma's boy. He is attached at the hip to his mommy. He doesn't like me to leave the house without him, he likes to know where I am at all times, and my favorite...he still loves his snuggle time with me. Kyle likes to do his bedtime routine sometimes for some bonding time with him and when he brings him over to give me a kiss goodnight Landon will dive to me from Kyle and wrap his little arms around my neck like a tree monkey to ensure that I am the one that puts him in his bed. Chase was and still is such a daddy's boy, so it's been nice to feel more appreciated by one of our children and it allows Kyle to see how it feels on the other side too:) He would always say I was overreacting or being silly when I would talk about Chase's preference for him. Now he knows I wasn't! I just adore my momma's boy! He is mischievous though...he is much more laid back then Chase ever was. He likes bugs, mud, and germs. His favorite things to do lately though is watch movies. He could do it all day long if I let him. He goes to our movie cupboard and tries to open and says, "Watch Mooovie!!" in the cutest little voice ever! He keeps talking more and more and uses a lot of phrases and copies a lot of our words. He can say the prayer (just repeating) and he likes that he's understood more now. He had a really hard time during that frustrating stage when they want so bad to voice their little opinions but their parents just don't understand a word. So glad that's coming to an end...

We just love these little guys and we are really really excited for a third one! We can't wait to see the difference in personalities and see what a third boy will look like for us. He's looking very healthy and growing right on target and we're getting anxious to meet him!