Chase's 3rd birthday

Trying to get caught up. Here it goes!

A week ago Chase turned three! It was great to have Aaron's mom in town for the event. We had great fun while she was here.

On Friday, September 18th Chase got to take treats to preschool. He shopped for the cookies and frosting himself:




Decorated them



obliged his mother with a photograph before preschool


Later that night, we hit Chuck E. Cheese with Grandma McLendon and Grandma & Grandpa Duncombe to celebrate. It wasn't crowded at all, the adults got salad bars (okay and slipped in a few slices) and we all got to go crazy playing the games. It was such a great night. Here's a glimpse into the fun:



His cake this year was Thomas the train (per his request) and even though I thought it would be SO easy it was SO hard! The top of the cake kept sliding all over the place and well, it's reeally lopsided and I was amazed it made it to the festivities. But he didn't seem to notice and it tasted really good, so all was well.

On his real birthday, Saturday, September 19th he woke to a banana french toast breakfast.






He then played with his toys, went to his brothers soccer game and then said goodbye to his parents as they flew to Washington DC for a getaway. What kind of mother leaves her baby on his birthday to go on a trip? Uh, me. But he didn't seem to notice (or care) and Aaron and I were off on a fun adventure. Pictures of that to come if I can ever find the time to blog about it.

All in all it was a great birthday celebration for my baby. He's growing so fast, learning so many words, learning to be more independent. It's a bittersweet time for me. I love him so much. He's still our most spirited child (doubt that will ever change) and gives me a run for my money most days, but I'm so smitten with my green eyed toe-head and I'm so grateful he's mine.

Things I want to remember about Chase at this age:

He stares most everyone down instead of smiling
It's almost impossible to get him to look at you for a picture
He loves his sister and loves to play house
He says when he's older he's going to be a doctor but not give anyone shots
He says his "c" sounds as "t" sounds...so America is AmeriTa and car is "Tar"
His favorite treat is frozen yogurt
He loves any kind of fruit you put in front of him
He hates celery and swimming.
He sleeps with Elmo and his stuffed Lizard and still wakes up at least once a night afraid of monsters.


We love you Chase! Happy Birthday big guy!

Oh and just because this is funny, check out this mosaic of Chase's SECOND birthday last year...look close at the shirt he was wearing at his party that day:


Does his shirt look familiar? Yep, how did I manage to pull out the same exact shirt for him to wear for his 3rd birthday that he wore for his 2nd? LOL, it made me laugh. Gotta love hand me downs. That shirt has had a ton of use since Spencer wore it---even making an appearance on two special days a year a part!

Hmm, I dunno...

...what do you think?

Do you think Chase has outgrown his high chair just a bit?


In his (and my) defense as to why a just turned 3 year old is still in a high chair---up until about 2.5 months ago we were a five-member family that squished around a four-seater kitchen table...so hence the need to hang on to the high chair. But thanks to craiglist, we now have a real family size table that seats all of us, and then some!

But my poor Chase.

He just can't seem to let go of his beloved high chair. He insists on eating in it for most every meal. I think he likes being all snug & cozy inside it as he partakes of his mothers scrumptious food. ;)

Sigh.

Just another thing he's outgrowing and getting too big for. I'll miss seeing this little turkey in his high chair every day. I think it means he's growing up or something. I don't think I like it very much.

But he does look awfully cute all chill in this picture. I'll be loving this shot for a long, long time!

Chase is three today!

More pictures to come from his (early) birthday celebrations last night...but for now on this day I wanted to jump on and say:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUBBIES!

We love you!

xoxo

(don't look too close at the imperfections of the cake...bottom line is he LOVED it. So mission accomplished.)

Leda's first ballet class

I'm not sure who was more excited, Leda or me? It was pure joy watching my only daughter dress up and go to her first ballet class. I've been excited for this day since they told us she was a girl in utero (not joking).

The day did not disappoint, there was so much cuteness I could hardly stand it!



I think that her 95 percentile for height (for a 4 year old) bodes well for her in this new role as an aspiring ballerina! lol


Leda and her friend Mackenzie




This picture was not staged--love it!


In action




And last but not least, here's Leda's loving older brother being SO supportive of her 45 minute ballet class....

I love this picture so much I can hardly stand it. muahahaha!

Mother of the year

Tonight I was walking out of a store, hand in hand with Spencer and Leda. I squeezed their hands and said,

"I still love you guys even though you're crazy!"

(crazy meant in a fun, playful way mind you...at least in this case at this exact moment in time)

My darling daughters reply?

"I love you too Mom, even though you yell"

Yep, Mother of the year award, right here. Right here.

Sigh. Chuckle, then big sigh.



I have so much to work on when it comes to being a Mother....but don't we all, right? Right? Make me feel better here. You deserve a (insert sarcasm) Mother of the year award some days too, right?

Sunset

This was taken at Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point, CA tonight...isn't it gorgeous?

Sometimes I'm just in awe of the beauty that exists in the world around us.

First day of First grade

My boy still held my hand as I walked him to school (didn't even pull away when he saw friends) and squeezed me three times to say "I love you" (our thing) before he walked off to First grade. I didn't bawl (impressed?) but I teared up for sure.

What a little stud.

(ps: not particularly proud of my backside, but proud of the image of this picture so focus on that pretty please)




It's all very exciting. I've been told that being in the First Grade is extra cool because (and I quote) "I get TWO recesses Mom, TWO!"


Here's to a fantastic year. May it be filled with a lot of recess and a bit of learning too!

The rest of UT in pictures...

I'm getting lazy. How, with a broken camera, did I still manage to take so many pictures?!

Here are the rest of my pictures from Utah with a blip about what I want to document.

Family BBQ in Provo Canyon



The setting


The cooks


The ladies


The game: Frisbee


The grub: Juicy Lucy's...oh my! (thanks R&B)


The happy eaters





McKay (10) and Carter (6) started school while we were there. Here's their first day of 4th and 1st grade



They live directly behind the elementary school, so each morning we'd watch them walk to school from Aunt Kiki's back patio.



Here's a zoom in of the above picture so to better see our morning ritual:




I snuck away for a few hours to meet up with my friend April who I had never met in person before (long story) I love you my friend!


Pleasant Grove Pool is THE BOMB! We hung out there a lot. It had three ginormous pools, diving boards and even 2 waterslides. WHY don't we have that locally? BIG SIGH.

Gabe in all his cuteness


Chase being Chase

These boys couldn't get enough

Spencer took his first jump off a diving board! Uhhh, ouch, right? He didn't complain. He's my toughest kid.

He finally got the hang of it by this jump. He was having a ball!

Aunt Kiki took Leda on her first BIG water slide. After screaming the entire way up AND down...at the end she decided she loved it.


My turn with Leda


A close up just cause you have to see the excitement of Leda's face. Ahh, love it! Good times.



Not captured in pictures: Our night out to BYU to catch the play "Joseph and the Amazing Techincolor dreamcoat"; shopping trips to Shade, Downeast and lunch at Cafe Rio; late night shake and malt runs to JPs (that's where I gained 3 pounds on this trip); Sunday Dinner at Uncle Dennis' with most all the cousins and last but not least: my sleepless nights thanks to my stinky kids who decided to be afraid of Monsters & the dark during this trip.


Thank you Utah and Aunt Kiki & fam for a wonderful time. A lot of work without Aaron and we did miss our daddy for 11 days, but SO.MUCH.FUN and so worth it!

UT-Day 4 The Hike

Warning: this is oh, so long. I won't be offended if you don't read or comment. Just remember this is my journal (of sorts) so I had to get this all documented!


This day we took off on a hike. Just me, my sister and six children ages 10,6,6,4,2, and 18 months. Whew, huh? It was Grove Creek to Battle Creek Loop In Pleasant Grove. Gorgeous picture above. This was the online description of the hike:

After about 1.5 miles, the trail reaches a bridge over the stream. This wonderful spot is a common turnaround point for those seeking a short day hike. It’s also a cool spot for a break—cascading water crosses bare rock here sending a mist into the air and cooling the entire area. Just below the bridge a series of short waterfalls is visible from the trail.

Sound easy enough, right? Well, it started out great, and then turned out not so great. Totally my fault. I'll get to that.

That morning, everyone was in good spirits and the children were happy to be getting up into the mountains to embark on an adventure to see waterfalls. My sister and I had prepared our backpacks with a picnic lunch, water bottles for all (man that was heavy!) and our 2 cell phones. We were good to go.

The hike started out a lot of fun and we made it the 1.5 miles up to said bridge. We could see water and a bit of the falls. It was exciting! But it was here where Chase just officially decided he'd had enough. Poor guy, 1.5 miles IS a long way to walk for a two year old. So I had mercy on him and decided to stay put at the bridge while Carrie walked on up the trail a ways to get a better view of the falls.

Here are some pictures of the group before we said our goodbyes:

Carrie with the kids



Me with the kids




After this picture was taken, Chase and I said goodbye to the others and then sat and ate our picnic lunch. After about 15 minutes, Chase was really antsy and wanted to, "go find Lala and Penster"....so (here's where I'm wrong) I decided there was no harm in walking up the trail to go meet up with the rest of the crew.

Chase and I start walking and after about 10 minutes it's getting steaper and steeper...to the point where I'm starting to think to myself, "Uh, HOW is Carrie doing this with 5 children (one strapped to her in a bjorn) and how SAFE is this for my children??" It got so steep that I no longer felt it comfortable or safe for me to make Chase continue walking. And I couldn't carry him because I was afraid I'd slip and fall off the side of the mountain. This trail was that bad. So I decided we'd just sit down and make a phone call to my sister. I had reception (whew) and the phone starts ringing...and I hear her phone ringing...INSIDE my backpack. Great. I had BOTH the phones in my backpack. Perfect. I then decided to just start calling out to my sister though it's impossible to hear my yells over the rushing water. Chase and I decide to sit still exactly where we are (they have to come back DOWN, right?) and wait.

We wait. And wait. And wait.

40 minutes has no gone by. No joke. I know this because I looked at the "call received" inbox on my sisters cell phone. It had been 40 minutes since I'd called her phone. Do you know how hard it is sitting on a steep hilly slope on a trail in the sun with a 2 year old? Ugh. It was awful. And the entire time I'm thinking, "They are lost...they are hurt...or dead...and if they're not dead she's alone with 5 kids in trouble...and I'm sure one of MY kids has fallen off the side of the trail by now and is being swept away by the rushing white water."

Yep, it was bad. Your mind does really bad things to you if you freak out and let it take over.

45 minutes into my freak out session, my phone rings. It's a number I don't recognize and guess who it is when I answer?

My sister.

She had tracked down a fellow hiker and borrowed his phone. She was BACK BY THE CAR (1.5 miles down the trail mind you) and wondering where the he** I was.

WHAT?!?

Turns out there was a fork in the trail just after the bridge where we we had stopped and separated and Carrie was told about this fork in the road by another hiker who had stopped my sister and told her that going UP the mountain would be impossible with kids (uh, ya...I learned that)but that going DOWN to the falls was a better choice. So my sister had gone down to the base of the waterfall whereas Chase and I had gone up to the top. Can you picture it? This entire time I am sitting at the top and she's down at the bottom. Ugh. Who knew?

So once we finally met up (Carrie and kids walked 1.5 miles up to meet us at the bridge) we were SO relieved to see each other...I stopped freaking out and all was well again. I'll tell you what though, Chase was one BIG trooper. He was so tired and very hot, but was a pretty good sport for being just two years old.

And there you have our adventure for the day. I told you it was long. Thanks if you got this far. lol

Some pics of our adventure. Carrie had the camera with her in her bag so I'm glad that in between freak out sessions on both our parts, she was able to capture some pictures of our day.

The bridge that becomes a major focal point in our story:










What a memory we made, huh Carrie?