Madelyn's First Hike

Just over a month ago we decided to go and check out the waterfall near our house for the first time this summer.  The water was quite low so the waterfall was pretty small.  That did not stop Chase from having a great time throwing rocks in and parking his body in the water for a bit to cool off.  Madelyn seemed to have fun, or as much fun as a newborn baby can have in a sling on a warm day.

Our little hiker.

My two babes.  Poor Madelyn is buried under several blankets.

There she is!

Just a little dip in the cold water.

Picnic By the River

The weather was warm so we packed up our new babe and our very excited three and a half year old and headed out for a picnic lunch by the river.  Thankfully it was a warm sunny day.  Unfortunately it was a bit windy and Chase has become fearful of wind in the last couple of months.  Thankfully he was a trooper and with the idea of throwing rocks with Daddy he made it through lunch.

Looking for good skipping/throwing rocks.

If you look close enough you may see Madelyn laying on my lap under the blanket.

Catching Up

Wow it has really been a long time since I have updated this blog. There have been so many changes going on around here. The biggest and most important thing to share would be the birth of our daughter Madelyn Sage. She was born May 5, 2010 at 4:43 pm. She was a healthy weight of 8lbs. 4oz, and was 19 3/4 in. long.

Chase is adjusting well to the big brother role. He likes to help out most of the time with his new sister, although this morning he asked, "Why do I have to do everything?" Gosh I was thinking that I had not been giving he enough responsibility. Go figure.

We have been having a very fun summer so far. I will work sharing these adventures in a more timely manner.



Here is a picture of me a month before Madelyn was born.



Our whole family right after Madelyn was born.



Our newest addition.

Happy Grandparents Day

Chase wants to send out an "I Love You" to all of his grandparents and great-grandparents. He put together a little slideshow of some of his summer fun.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our Future Chef

Hmmm... what should I make Daddy and Mommy for dinner?


Oh this one looks good! Now what do I need...

For anyone who really knows me you know that these pictures cause me to have high hopes for a future little chef. Well, at least for someone in our house to enjoy cooking.

Snow, Snow, Snow

As I have mentioned before we really have not seen a great accumulation of snow so far this year. When we do Chase has a GREAT time exploring it. It took quite some time to get him to actually leave this mound of snow that he fell in love with.

Sledding

So we finally bought Chase a sled and then we have not had enough snow to put it to use. Ugh! Oh well, we decided to load it up and go visit Mimi. She has more than enough snow for us to play in. We took Chase out a couple of times with the backpack and the sled. He would take turns between riding on my back and riding in the sled with Mimi. He had a great time! What am I saying, we all had a great time!

Second Birthday Celebrations

Ok so maybe this is a little late but here is an update:

Right after Christmas we celebrated Chase's birthday with Bampo, Bama, Mimi, and Aunt Ciara. We had a little cake and ice cream and play time.



Later in the week we celebrated with the Lohmeier family on Chase's birthday with Elmo cupcakes and an Elmo running bike. Hopefully in a few months he will be tall enough to actually ride this bike.





He had a great time celebrating with all of his family on these two special days. Hopefully he does not start to think that birthdays last for days on end.

Christmas Celebrations

We have had a wonderful Christmas/Birthday/New Years. What a busy couple of weeks have passed. Here are a few pictures from our Christmas celebrations.

Chase really enjoyed helping us decorate the Christmas tree.


We first celebrated Christmas at our house with Papa, Mimi and Chase's aunts, uncles and cousins.

Chase and Ian really enjoyed their matching bikes from Papa and Mimi.


Chase had to put on his new outfit from Papa and Mimi right away!


Oops! Caught with not one but two Dee Dees. Chase knows he can only have them when he is going to bed so he made a bed in the suitcase as we finished packing.


Aunt Ciara and Chase learning how to use his new remote controlled fire truck at Bampa and Bama's house (Chase made these names up for Erin's Grandpa and Grandma).


Bampa and Mimi helping Chase build a "Big, Big House" while Bama was busy making breakfast.

Couture Blogs

Here is the link to Tyne's web design site. Check it out to see what she can do for you (or enter her contest to see if you can win a free makeover)!

Blog Makeover Giveaway

I am excited to share that a friend from high school is starting a new buisness of blog design. She is launching her business by giving away a blog makeover. Tyne has a great sense of humor and makes me laugh each time I visit her site. You can visit her site through the following link to learn more about the contest and to enjoy a few chuckles about her family of almost 4.

Halloween

This year Chase was a lion for Halloween. I was planning to be a lion tammer to go along with his costume. Well due to the stress of putting on his costume and keeping it on I went without my costume :(. I took Chase in to the school parade and he and cousin Ian both wore lion costumes (thanks to Mimi (Barb) for helping me get Chase in his costume).


On Halloween we took Chase to the Larsen's to trick-or-treat with their kids. Chase of course hesitated to wear his lion costume again so we tried cousin Ian's dog costume. This one was a bit snug and helped us to convince him that the lion was his best bet.


Jason and Kevin took the kids out to a few houses that we know around town. Chase really did not seem to understand what they were doing because as the door opened he would run through the door and make himself at home in each of the houses. He did not really seem to care much about the candy (but I was thankful that he brought home a few pieces) but had a great time anyway.

Chase and his buddy (aka his current future girlfriend)

Walking Wally

Chase loves to take Wally for walks when we visit. Mimi decided that maybe Chase should really be the one to walk him.

Outdoor Fun

A few weeks ago Chase and I went to visit Mimi and Wally in Edwards. We went for a hike on Sunday and Chase had a blast exploring. On our way down he was very curious about the creek that we had to cross. We took off his shoes and let him play around. You would think that it would have been too cold but not for this kid.

A walking stick and a leaf, what more do you need?

Mimi and Chase cross the creek

Loving the water (brrrr!)

Hmmm...

...and this is what I found in the bathroom this afternoon...

Thursday

Well our little Capricorn has started to show his passion for the "big bucks". He walks around talking about money, asking for money and reminding us that we need to have money when we are in the store to pay for things. Well today was a good one. We stopped to fill the car with gas (ugh, my least favorite thing to do) and Chase begins his banter about "money, money, money". As we drove away he turns toward the gas pump, waves and says "bye bye money!" (oh so true!)



Yesterday afternoon:

Chase: "Poo, poo, poo, poo"

Me: "Do you want to go and try on the potty?"

Chase: "No!"

A bit later after some play time.

Chase: "Poo, poo, baby. Baby poo, poo."

Me: "You are a big boy now Chase, let's go try the potty."

This is what we found in the bathroom...

Our Brave Boy!

On Labor Day we went to Aunt Jara's house to celebrate Cousin Colton's Birthday. What a great time for Chase! Jara set up a huge water slide for all of the kids. When the "big" kids were tired of playing Chase jumped in with Deja and Natalie. He LOVED going down the slide and especially standing under the mini shower on the lower slide. He had no fear and I actually had to tear him away. Thankfully Mimi (Grammy) was there to dry him off.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a great weekend with Aunt Ciara over Labor Day. Chase had fun with her in the park and picking berries on a hike. We can't wait to see her again soon! Here are a few pictures of our visit.



A quick picture outside of Mimi's house with Wally (in Mimi's arms), Archie (in Aunt Ciara's arms), and if you look close enough Badger is poking through between Mimi and I. :)

"Bu-bye, bu-bye, bu-bye, bu-bye, bu-bye..." This is just a little tast of my little man's never ending phrase today. It was "Bu-bye, bu-bye, bu-bye," when we were leaving to go for a run. It was "Bu-bye, bu-bye, bu-bye," when we were in my school in the storage room that he hates. It was "Bu-bye, bu-bye, bu-bye," when the rain came down so hard on the car and the windshield wipers were slapping back and forth so quickly I was sure we would loose one. It was "Bu-bye, bu-bye, bu-bye," when I was filling my fit ball (who knows why he wanted that to go) and finally it was "Bu-bye,bu-bye, bu-bye," when he decided that we needed to leave (to who knows where) before dinner (maybe he did not want what I was cooking?). I hope this was just a day long phase because it was exhausting, can't do this again tomorrow! :)

August Fun

Well I apologize for not keeping up to date. We had two wonderful although quick visits from Papa Chris followed by Elizabeth (we are still looking for a name for Chase to call her, any suggestions are greatly appreciated!) and Chase's Aunt Annabel and Aunt Lizzie as they were all heading back home to Kentuky. Chase had a great time and I am sure that everyone needed an extra nap once they were done playing with him. We can't wait to see them again soon.