Halloween

I haven't written a blog since April! Holy cow time has flown by!

Right now we are living in Logan UT while Seth gets his MBA. We have about 6 more months left!! Wahoo I am so proud of him he is doing great in school and getting amazing grades!

This year was Chase's first year to actually go Trick-or-Treating. I wasn't too worried about how he would do, he isn't too shy and he loves candy so it's the perfect holiday for him! We went trick-or-treating at my sister in law Katie's house in Pleasant View since she lives in an actual neighborhood and not just apartments.  It was so much fun! Katie's husband, Ben, has llamas at his parents house which was close by so we went and fed them apples! Then it was onward to trick-or-treating!

 Chase was Mickey Mouse for Halloween! Obviously :) It was such an easy costume, I found the hat at Walmart, he already had the pants, and the jacket was on sale, and I sewed his shorts, all in all it cost about $8. I'd say that is pretty good! Chase would walk up to the door and try to open it, then as soon as someone would open the door he would try to walk inside! He is so funny. Most of the people let Chase pick his own candy and he did so good. Every once in awhile he would grab a handful and then I would put it back and have him take one. It was also such a warm night! I am so glad it didn't snow :) It was so fun and I can't wait until next year!

Easter

We had a fun and busy weekend for Easter! To start the Easter weekend I woke up Saturday morning and made bunny cinnamon rolls. Chase loved it, probably because it was a cinnamon roll, not really because of the bunny sadly!

Then we watched General Conference and Chase was actually really good during the talks! We also  finger painted! He loved it and did a great job!

This is supposed to be bunnies. And then the carrots are buried underground...

Later that night while Seth was at Priesthood session Chase and I got to dye Easter eggs. He also loved loved loved doing that! He cried every time I took the egg away from him.

 

Sunday morning we woke up and I took Chase downstairs to find his Easter basket from the Easter bunny! He was so excited and loved getting his basket!

After that we ate the eggs we had dyed the day before for breakfast while we watched General Conference. I was cooking Easter dinner and Seth's grandparents were coming over for dinner so Chase followed me around the kitchen with his Easter basket putting spices in them and getting in to everything!

After General Conference (which was so great to listen to, and I am so thankful for the messages I heard) Seth's grandparents came over to watch Chase do an Easter Egg hunt! He didn't quite get the idea because there were a lot of distractions. He wanted to play in the sprinklers, chase the ducks that have been hanging out in our yard, and pick up the rabbit poop. Finally he found an egg and realized there was candy in them. Then he cried when I took the egg from him and put it in his basket. He was so upset! He couldn't figure out that he needed to keep picking up the eggs! Eventually he went and got the rest of the eggs and did a great job!!

It was a great Easter Sunday filled with great spiritual messages and great family time!

Seth cutting the HUGE ham we had!

Some updates:;

Seth got accepted into MBA school at Utah State! We will be moving to Logan sometime in August and he will do the 1 year program and be done sometime in May 2016! We are so ready for him to be done with school and see where we end up and move on!

Chase it talking ALL the time! Some new words he says are: Amen! Night Night, grandma, grandpa, and birdie. He loves to blow kisses and grabs our faces and gives us kisses! He is very animated about it which makes it even cuter! He loves to play outside and walk around as long as he is outside, he's happy! Everyone morning we go on a bike ride and he just talks to himself and points to the birds the whole time. He is such a character and it's so fun seeing his personality get stronger and stronger every day.

1st Birthday

 

Chase is 1! This year has seriously flown by. It seems impossible that a year ago I was holding a brand new baby in my arms, and now my baby just wants to walk around and not be held! He is seriously so much fun! He walks and talks and dances ALL the time. And he has gotten so much better at sleeping. He will sleep through the night from 8 PM to 8 or 9 AM! I am so proud of him for finally sleeping through the night, it makes such a difference in him, me, and Seth!

He is drinking mostly whole milk now with some formula mixed in. He is also eating hot dogs, green beans, applesauce, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, mac and cheese, yogurt, and pretty much whatever Seth and I are eating. He loves food. He will follow Seth and I around until we give him whatever we are eating.

He is so good at walking, and he loves it! He hardly ever falls unless he trips over something. When he was learning to walk he would get so upset when he would fall and he did not give up! He would stand back up in the middle of the room and keep doing it until he finally got to where he wanted to be. He is one determined little man!

For Chase's birthday he got an early present! My sister had her baby one day before Chase's birthday! She is such a cute little thing and I can't wait to meet her!!!

On Chase's birthday he woke up and I made him eggs! He loves eggs! Sadly though, Chase has a terrible cold so we was extremely tired and went down for a nap shortly after breakfast. While he was asleep I went to the store and got some last minute things for his cupcakes! Ok so I am a little obsessed with minions so I made that Chase's theme for his birthday! They are just so hilarious, I mean really who doesn't love minions?

Minion Cupcakes

The day was pretty normal, we played and swung on the swings and played some more. That night Chase's grandparents, great-grandparents, and uncle Mike were there for his birthday! It was sad not having my family there but I am grateful for the people who were able to come.

Chase loved the cupcakes, he had 2! He wasn't too sure about the ice cream! I plopped some on his tray and he held it in his hand and cried. He didn't quite know how to eat that by himself!

It was a great birthday, but I hope this next year goes by a little slower. I am so glad that I get to stay at home with Chase and see him grow every single day! He is so much fun, and has so much personality shoved in to his tiny little body! I can't wait to see his personality unfold more this year!!

Sleep Training

Chase is almost a year old and I am kind of late, but I just started trying to sleep train him. First of all, who the heck invented sleep training? I think babies should come already wanting and knowing how to sleep a full night. Now I know some babies do, but Chase must have missed that day! I have tried multiple times many different things to get him to sleep through the night. Ever since he was sick at Christmas time he has been waking up at least 5 times every night and he wants a bottle every single time! So I started another bad habit when I started giving him bottles whenever he wanted them throughout the night. Now I am trying to break him of that habit. So in 360 days Chase has slept through the night 9 times. Say it again, 9 times! He was an extremely fussy newborn and has always hated sleeping. He also refuses to take his binky. I know I will appreciate that in a few months when I don't have to break him of that bad habit, but at the same time it would be so nice if he would have liked his binky and used that instead of a bottle at night!

Last night was my first night (again) of trying to get him to sleep through the night. The only thing I have left to try is crying it out. So last night he woke up at midnight. After an hour of crying, I went in to comfort him and help him settle back down. I was in there for about 20 minutes and I left him calm and content. Then about 10 minutes later he started crying, AGAIN! We have a camera in his room so I just sat and watched him cry. He was fake crying (I am not a heartless mom, just a sleep deprived one!) I put a sea horse in his crib that plays music, so on the camera every few minutes I saw him stop crying and start dancing to his sea horses music! He's so silly. So I laid in bed until 4 AM listening to him cry until he finally fell asleep. Now how many more nights do I have of this? I feel so bad just watching and waiting for him to stop crying and fall asleep, but I have got to get some sleep!  I was so proud of him when he fell asleep on his own, but I had nightmares the rest of the night that he was still crying and on and on.

It was a long night, but we are making progress!!!


(ok, my rant is over)

Graduation and Moving

December has been a crazy busy month! At the end of November I set up and decorated our Christmas tree with the help of my favorite little man, Chase! Chase also turned 11 months old on December 21! I can't believe that he is almost 1 year old. The time has flown by. He is starting to walk, he can say grampa, hi, dad, mom, baba, and he is starting to beat box. It is pretty funny to listen to him!

                                        

With the help of our friends and family, Seth and I loaded up a moving truck and moved all of our stuff to Utah. That same day we came back to Idaho and finished cleaning our apartment. Then we stayed with my parents until Seth's graduation. Ok time to brag a little bit here! Seth was awarded the Newel K Whitney Outstanding Graduate Award in Business Management! I am so proud of him. We got to go to an award ceremony for him and my amazing sister in-law was kind enough to watch Chase for us. The day of graduation was really bad weather so I stayed in Idaho Falls with Chase until it was time for the graduation ceremony. My mom was sweet enough to watch Chase so that I could go to graduation and not have to drag Chase out in the snowy, stormy weather. It was also really neat because Seth graduated with his brother Michael. It was fun seeing both of them walk together.

All of the Business teachers with the students who were awarded the Newel K Whitney Award

Seth and one of the teachers who nominated him for the award.

Next in our journey we left Idaho and moved to CA. Luckily I flew from the SLC Airport and Seth was amazing and drove the 14 hour car ride with all of our stuff.

A few days later we had Christmas. It was Chase's first Christmas and he got to experience it with his cousin Everett who is just 12 days younger than Chase. They love each other so much and Everett follows Chase around wherever he goes. It is so cute to watch! They are going to be so mischievous in the future! Chase has slept through the night about 8 times now since being born and I love those nights! Christmas was so fun, but Chase and Everett are both sick now and they aren't too happy :(

Christmas morning was rough!

opening up presents

For now we will just live in CA until Seth gets accepted to an MBA program. He has applied to a few different places and now we will just wait and see. We will be in CA until at least August.

As I think back on this year I am amazed at all that has happened. I gave birth to my sweet baby boy, I celebrated 2 years of marriage, my husband graduated, and now I have moved from the only place I have ever lived! This next year will be one of even more exciting adventures. I am so grateful for my sweet family and the memories I have already created with them!

Chase is 6 Months

 Chase is 6 months old! He's been alive for half a year! I can't even believe it and I can't explain how much I absolutely love him! These past 6 months have been so hard, fun, and such a learning experience. He weighs 15 pounds and is 25 inches long! Yeah he's gonna be a shortie :)

Sleeping 

Chase HATES sleeping! I don't know any babies who don't like to sleep except Chase! I love sleeping but maybe Chase will learn to love it too :) he still wakes up 3-8 times a night! Yes, I know that's a big gap but some nights are good and some nights are pretty long... He is learning though! He loves sleeping with me which I love because I can cuddle him all night long and he doesn't mind! (Even though it's extremely hot some nights) he will sleep in his crib for a few hours each night and for his naps most times! 

This is at 1 am and he is wide awake...

Eating 

He has eaten green beans (he didn't like them so much), peas (also not a favorite), sweet potatoes (now we are getting to the good stuff), and carrots (he loves carrots)! He has also had a lick of ice cream, lasagna, and Popsicles of course! 

Playing 

He loves to play with toys now! He can sit up by himself, and he can scoot slowly across the floor! He rolls all over the place and hates it when mommy and daddy leave the room! He is starting to recognize strangers and looks to his parents for approval! He is also starting to hold his own bottle which is totally bittersweet because I love feeding him but it's hard at night and it would be so much easier if I could give him a bottle and he could put himself to sleep! He is starting to reach for people now too which is fun to see who he wants to hold him! I think he is trying to give hugs and kisses sometimes but maybe that's just my imagination!

He doesn't like his binky and would much rather chew on it than actually suck on it which makes falling asleep on his own hard :/ 

He loves talking! We will sit in church and Chase will talk to the people behind us and he gets so upset when they don't talk back so he starts yelling at them! 

My mom came to Rexburg last week and took some of Chase's pictures for being 6 months old! It was so fun even though Seth wasn't able to come with us :( 

It is great seeing Chase learn and grow each day. I love teaching him and I love it when I see him doing something that I taught him! He is so fun and I love being his mom! I am so blessed to have Chase in my life and I can't wait to see him learn and grow more each day!