Life has been quite busy lately. Since the last update (almost 3 months ago...) Chelsea turned 1. That's probably the highlight of things. We had a little Cupcake Party with my parents and a couple of close friends. Chelsea seemed to enjoy herself. She was very polite when opening her presents...opening it, giving it some individual time, would look at the person and smile, then put it aside when it was time to move to another one. Very cute, and very polite. (We can't figure out where she learned that one...but we're proud of her :)) At her 1 year appointment, she was 29 inches and 19.6 pounds. She is right around the 50th percentile for height, but only the 25th for weight. The doctor told us we need to feed her more, but she eats what she wants, then throws the rest on the floor to let us us know she's done. I hope she gets out of that stage soon...and learns just to say she's done :). She's got 5 teeth (finally) and loves to brush her teeth. Or at least play with the toothbrush.
For Jacob's spring break, Chelsea and I were nice enough to go out of town so that he could get some good work done on school. We went to Arizona with my mom, stopping in Illinois to pick up my older sister and her two kids, then driving to New Mexico to visit my other sister's family, then on to Arizona. It was alot of driving, with 3 kids in the car, but it was completely worth it. My Grandpa passed away a couple weeks ago, and we got to see him when we were out there. Just knowing that he's gone now made the crazy trip totally worth it. Will we ever make the attempt again? Who knows. It was a fun trip. We were also able to see Jacob's parents and his little brother, Dallin. Dallin hadn't met Chelsea yet, so he got to meet her.
Jacob has been working hard trying to finish up with school. He graduates on Sunday. As of now, there are no job prospects, so we're just planning on staying here for a while still. We haven't completely given up, but we are ready to move on into the next stage of life. If anyone knows of any English teaching jobs, send them our way :). He's still working at JC Penney's, although the hours have been very minimal.
I'm still working at Archiver's. I got a promotion to receiver, so the hours are much better for my schedule (no nights and weekends...yay!) and I absolutely love it. I basically just open all the boxes when they come in. I'm the first to see anything new that comes in, so it's hard, but I'm doing pretty well at not buying everything that I want. Maybe some day. Other than that I've been doing alot of scrapbooking. It helps me to relax and get away from life for a while. Jacob lets me have time to do it (Thanks Babe!) and is excited to be done with school so that he can have a hobby--other than homework.
Chelsea is growing up so fast. She's almost 15 months. I can't believe it has been that long already. It seems like she was just a little baby the other day. We love watching her grow from day to day. She's walking like crazy (actually, she's working on running now), and is finally starting to play with her toys. Up until now, she didn't seem all too interested in them. She's learning to climb--anything and everything that she can. She was standing on the handle of her toy stroller the other day. Gave me a heart attack. I don't see how she could balance on it. She hasn't figured out how to get out of her crib yet, but she uses it for a snack when she wakes up. We try to cover it, but she just finds an area that not covered to bite on.
With the weather finally warming up, we try and take her outside for at least a couple minutes each day. She loves the sunshine and loves the wind in her hair. Yep, she's finally got some hair. She still won't really wear a bow, but we're trying. Chelsea jabbers alot, but not much is distinguishable other than "dada," "mama," and "dis" and "dat." At least we think that's what she's trying to say. She loves to point at things. She has a picture of Mickey and friends above her crib, and when she wakes up she points to it when we walk in the room. Yep, we've brainwashed her already! She gets excited when we ask her if she wants to meet Mickey this summer, so she for sure recognizes Mickey, and is getting really good at bringing you things when you ask. Especially your shoes, her shoes, her coat, and her purse. She loves her purse.
We love her to death and can't wait for her to keep growing and learning. She changes so much from day to day. It won't let me upload any pictures right now, so I'll try again later. Look for a post full of pictures. :)
Chelsea and Grandpaon Daddy's Graduation day!
Family picture at Graduation. If you look closely, you can see that Chelsea is actually showing her teeth in her smile!