Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Corpus Christi Getaway

We went to Corpus Christi over Memorial Day weekend. We needed one last "mini vacation" before the baby came! I wanted to go to the beach and we hadn't been there before, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to check it out! We had a really great time. Lots of pictures coming your way here! Ready? Here we go....

We first went to the aquarium, which was very cool. Chase fell in love with the turtle who roamed the aquarium and had to have his picture taken with him:

He also liked the real turtles...

...and the otters:

He tried to touch a stingray but could never quite catch one:

This picture was taken just for Aunt Jen:

We discovered an area where you could pick up shells, crabs and sea urchins and Chase LOVED that. It was definitely his favorite part of the aquarium. I credit Aunt Jen for his lack of fear in touching weird sea creatures!

And, of course, on the way out of the aquarium he had to play in the whale fountain:

We also went to the beach twice while we were there. Chase LOVED playing in the waves!

He also had a great time playing in the sand:

To make better packing sand for our sand castles we added some water, and Chase loved making trips into the waves to fetch some with his watering can:

Then Chase had the brilliant idea of making a snowman! So here is our "sand" man:

We found a cool water fountain downtown but Chase wouldn't get in because he didn't want his shorts to get wet!

Chase LOVED all the palm trees, which he called "coconut trees," thanks to one of his favorite books, "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" (Great gift, Holly)!

First he asked Daddy to climb up the coconut tree...

...and then he tried to climb one himself, but decided to challenge himself with a much taller tree!

We went on a little cruise, which Chase thought was cool for the first 20 minutes and then was ready to go home. He did pretty well for the remaining hour and ten minutes, despite the fact he was bored. We did manage to get some pictures while he was still happy though. Chase was ready for this one, but Dad was not:

Let's try that again. Silly Daddy!

And here is a terrible one of me with Chase. Chase looks cute but I'm a mess. I'm posting it anyway only because it is the only photo taken on the trip with me in it!

On the cruise we got to see the USS Lexington, which was pretty cool. Chase loved the planes:

On the way home we swung through San Antonio to visit the Witte Museum, which was having a cool dinosaur exhibit. Chase got to dig for dinosaur bones:

And then we explored the rest of the children's museum and found a super cool water contraption that Chase fell in love with:



All in all it was a great trip. There are tons more photos in our Photo Album if you're interested!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Baby "Registry"

For those of you who have been asking for baby gift ideas, we now have a "Registry" on our blog (link at the top). Click here to go directly to it if you're interested. Thanks!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Nap Time

This actually happened last weekend, but I'm just now getting around to posting it. We think Chase is starting to grow out of his naps. Here is peek at his nap time activity last Sunday (Facebook users, click "View Original Post" to see this video):



Shortly after I stopped this video we heard a huge KLUNK, followed by screaming. I ran upstairs to discover that my one little monkey had been jumping on the bed, then fell down (not off, thankfully) and bumped his head (on the guard rail). Through his tears he said to me, "Maybe I shouldn't jump on the bed anymore so it can't hurt me." Smart boy! Anyway, this photo was taken immediately after we got him calmed down (suckers help) and iced the bump for awhile:

(The picture doesn't do the eye justice, but his face makes it worth posting!)

We went to WalMart a little later and Chase fell asleep in the car (of course). Then when we got to WalMart he asked to take his blanket in, which is weird. We allowed it and this is what happened not 5 minutes after we walked into the store:

I kept stopping the cart while we shopped to make sure he was still breathing (can we say concussion paranoia?). My son NEVER does this. Never had, and I thought never would.

His eye turned lovely shades of black and blue throughout the week. It is looking much better today (phew)! Even though we didn't do anything, we felt guilty taking him to daycare the next day! We wanted to wear big signs that said, "We promise we didn't do it!"

At work Monday I got this email from Brian:

Subject: CPS

So I am sitting in my office and I get a call from Child Protective Services. I immediately think daycare has called them because of Chase’s bruise. But it was just CPS wanting to confirm that a parent had completed the Parenting Course with me. Good times, Brian

Talk about a heart attack!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

10 Years

10 years ago today, Brian and I had our first date. Can you believe it? It's amazing to think back on that night in college at ECU when we met at Chili's for dinner, and then went to Ham's afterward for drinks. All those little butterflies about not having enough to talk about went away almost instantly and we talked non-stop all evening. Now look at us, 10 years later... married with kids, in a beautiful home with real careers.... It's amazing to think that all of this sparked from one little evening at Chili's.

I love you, Baby!

Nature Attacks

Here are just a couple deer photos to show you just how close they get to our house! This, combined with the cardinals that keep attacking (literally) our windows, makes us feel like we're under attack by nature at times!

This one was taken from the car, after we pulled up to the edge of the driveway:

(Yes, there are five of them.... And they aren't going anywhere!). This next one was taken from the back porch:

Brian took this one because the deer was seriously pounding its hooves on the ground and grunting at the house!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Definitely a Girl!

Brian, Chase and I had a 3D ultrasound done on "Baby Two" this weekend, and got confirmation that Chase is definitely getting a little sister. Now I can paint with confidence! It was a pretty cool experience. Chase was a bit high maintenance, which made it hard for Brian to be able to enjoy the experience, as he was constantly entertaining him. But we walked out with a CD of pictures and a DVD of the whole thing, so we will have another screening at home... probably when Chase goes down for a nap!

Chase, when he was paying attention, thought it was pretty cool. He was not a fan of the blue goop they put on my belly, however. He climbed up in the bed with me for a little while... until he got a bit of goo on his arm and quickly decided that was not the spot for him.

Here are a couple photos of our little girl. She was squished up against my belly, which made it hard for them to get a good picture.

Sucking on her fingers:

A big yawn:

Sleeping peacefully:

More 3D photos are on their way to our Photo Album if you're interested!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

2nd post of the day!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day today. I got to go out to eat and Chase helped me with my dessert (He IS my son.... I think he ate more than I did)! I got some wonderful gifts, but what really made me cry were my cards. Check this out:

Chase LOVES to write "M's" (more on that another time), and he can also write "O's." Those two letters are his specialty. So Brian helped him piece them together into "MOM." So sweet. My baby is growing up!

Conversations With a 3-Year-Old: Getting Serious

Chase makes us laugh all the time, but a lot of times I think, "It's hilarious to us right now in this moment, but will it translate to funny on the blog?" This may be one of those "You had to be there" conversations, but I'm going to post it anyway.

We have to get creative sometimes to get Chase to eat. Today he didn't want his mac & cheese. He has been obsessed with babies lately, so I tried this approach:

Me: Chase, do you know what baby birds eat?

Chase: What?

Me: WORMS!

Chase: Ew!

Me: Your mac & cheese looks like worms. Can you be a baby bird and eat them? (Yes, I know this kind of sounds like a scene in "A Christmas Story.")

Chase: (takes a bite of his mac & cheese)

Me: EW! I can't believe you ate those worms! You better not do it again!

Chase: (in a completely serious tone) Uh oh, Daddy.... Look. This is getting SERIOUS.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Air Show

We took Chase to the air show in Temple again this year and he had so much fun. His favorite part was the bombs (from the war reenactment).

When Chase saw this plane he said, "Grandpa's gonna fly that one!" I thought it was cute so I had to take a picture of it:

At the end they had an F16 fly by and it was LOUD...

...but very cool!

I'll post more photos to our Photo Album soon!

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