Movin' and Groovin'...

Chase is working hard on trying to walk. He started walking behind push toys this weekend, which if I remember correctly isn't too far from when they walk on their own? Either way, he is getting around just fine... Too bad our house isn't bigger, he probably could go pretty far, but the poor thing has lots of obstacles here and has to start and stop a lot. It doesn't seem to bother him though and he is proud as can be as you can tell from the pictures...

my lame attemp at getting my kidsto take a picture together...

Dressin' Up...

Audrey goes on and off kicks where she wants to "dress up" and right now she is on one. She is so funny when she does it. Her new one is needing to wear her sun glasses and her "crown" to complete the outfit. She doesn't call herself a princess, just says she is pretty, which of course she is... Very Hollywood don't you think?

Eight Months...

So my sweet, mellow son that I love turned into a crazy man this month... I still love him dearly of course, but my god does he have us on our toes in what seems like overnight. Chase started crawling right after he turned 7 months and has not stopped since. He mastered crawling very quickly and can get around fast, too fast. He figured out how to pull himself up on anything and everything very shortly after learning how to crawl. This is proving to be dangerous as he is ridiculously curious and wants to get up and look at everything (fingers have been caught in drawers and doors too many times already!). Audrey (and Charlie and I) are learning, though not quick enough, to not leave anything in arms reach of him because he WILL grab it... I don't remember Audrey being so into everything, but maybe my memory has just blocked that out. Anyways, it is time to get rid of all of my plants and any other decor laying around, pretty exciting...

The kid is proving to be a human garbage disposal, he eats anything you put in front of him (plus anything he can find on the floor that he or his sister dropped). He loves feeding himself and I am trying hard to give him as much finger foods as possible and get off the Gerber Baby food all together, though unfortunatlely those little containers don't take any pre-thought which is oh so nice... He loves peaches and pears, he doesn't love his veggies but will definately eat them (peas especially), he loves pasta and the new one is meat (he is Charlie's son after all). He had 2 meatballs last night plus some bbq at lunch with his dad... Needless to say he eats more then Audrey...


He still is the sweetest thing. His new one is he bops anytime music comes on. Any kind of music, like from the t.v., me singing or from some wonderful toy we have that makes noise. It is pretty funny. I have been trying to get it on video but of course he doesn't do it on que... He is still not doing so hot at night which stinks. He had a stretch last week where he was sleeping 6:30 - 5 or 5:30 which was awesome. That stopped this weekend (of course)... He just loves his mom too much to not see her at 3 am, that must be what it is...

Precious Moments...

The boys were sleeping yesterday morning and Audrey and I got to spend some alone time which was pretty awesome. Really sad, but I don't remember the last time we got to do that... It is shocking to me what a young lady she is becoming. She has such a personality and is so creative and sweet (when she wants to be) it just makes me smile. We spent a good hour in the play room painting, playing with play dough, making "cookies" and "cake" and all sorts of other things that she loves... I love that we can finally spend time together and it is true interaction, like she tells me what to do and I ask her a question and she responds. She has the funniest phrases right now, like "great job mommy"and "right" (like after you say something she confirms it with "right"). And her quirks are hilarious, she loves all things to do with a party (especially party hats), all things choc and pops (chocolate and lolli pops) and she must always bring a different toy or item up to bed with her (she's like a squirrel I tell you). And most importantly, she gives the best hugs and pisses (kisses). Here's to my sweet baby girl that is growing up way too fast before my eyes...

Golf Cart...

The kids got lots of wonderful gifts (thank you again to everyone, you really spoiled them!), but there was one in particular that went over really well. As many of you know Charlie comes from a golf family, they all are on different levels of playing but all love it. Well his dad got Audrey a moterized golf cart for Christmas, and my goodness was it a hit. It was complete with a golf bag with clubs and balls. She saw it and almost flipped out. She got right in and put her foot on the pedal and off she went. She wasn't scared of it at all which was awesome. The going forwards and backwards was a little tricky, but she will get the hang of it... There were a couple of classic moments with the cart. One was when she put her foot on the pedal and Charlie's dad was in front of her and she said "watch out Papa" as she ran right into him. The other was when I thought it would be cute to put Chase on the cart with her. I thought he might be scared, but he held right on for dear life and actually liked it! These pictures don't do it just justice, but it was hilarious watching the 2 of them on it. I stood next to it the entire time scared to death he was going to fall out. My first taste of Audrey driving her little brother around, if its scary now I can't imagine when it is a real car they are in...

Christmas 2009...

Well, we survived Christmas 2009. We had very uneventful travel to and from Chicago which is amazing considering the weather we had while we were there and the recent incident on the NWA flight in DTW on Christmas (so scary). We were actually 1/2 hour early going there (I know, I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't been on the plane). The kids were great on both flights, which made life a whole lot easier as well.

We had a wonderful Christmas and were blessed to be able to spend it with our family. The kids were ridiculously spoiled and got tons of wonderful things. Audrey had a blast opening all of her gifts and most of Chase's. She really got into each individual gift and wanted to open each thing and play with it right away. Chase enjoyed himself too, so much that he had to take a nap 20 minutes into the gift opening. The ever popular play dough was opened at a good point in the morning, as she needed a break and played with it for a good 1/2 hour while us adults opened our stuff...

It was so great to spend time with Charlie's family and a big thank you to them for being wonderful hosts! I was lucky enough to be able to see my family as well. It was a quick trip for them and they trekked out to Chicago in a snowstorm both ways but I'm so glad they did. We don't get to see our family enough, so it is always very special when we do(especially this time, my sister is in Switerland all year and she hasn't seen the kids since Chase was 3 weeks old!). Audrey loved playing with everyone and teaching them all Audrey-ese and about her love of choc and candy. Chase enjoyed showing off his adorable smile and his mad crawling and pulling-himself-up-on-everything-and-anything skills...

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! We sure did...

Merry Christmas...

We are headed to the Chicago area tomorrow to spend Christmas with Charlie's family. We are lucky enough to be able to see almost all of our family during our quick trip which is wonderful. Chase is ready to show off his crawling skills and Audrey can't wait to see everyone, oh and get presents... We have our fingers crossed for an uneventful flight there and back. It is always dicey this time of year with the weather...

Merry Christmas to all! Safe travels, lots of love and best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday!