First Tooth!

Chase got his first tooth last night! Before I left for work this morning Brian and I were playing with him and noticed he kept chomping and grinding him gums together. We hadn't noticed him do this before so I stuck my finger in his mouth and immediately felt something sharp on the bottom! Sure enough, there was a little tooth peeking out at us! What a big boy.... My baby is growing up (*sniffle*)! ;)

Memorial Day Weekend Photos Posted

Photos from our weekend in Alma (see previous post) are now posted in our Photo Album, FYI.

Here are some highlights:

Highland Festival Weekend

This weekend Brian and I made the trip to Alma, MI (my hometown) to go to the annual Highland Festival. I grew up with the festival, competing in dance competitions, etc. I heard this could be the very last one so we just had to go. We met up with my hometown friends Saturday for the parade and evening festivities and had a great time. Brian managed to escape this photo at the parade, but those pictured above are (L-R): Abir & Janet, me (with Chase), Holly (with her daughter, Noel), Kev, Heather (with her son, Ethan), Monica, and Sarah & Dusty.

While we were in town we also got to spend time with family. My parents had just gotten back from Costa Rica and we got to see some of the amazing photos they took there (coming soon to their website, http://www.4pointsphotography.com/). Chase also got to meet some more family members, including two more of his cousins, Emma and Kailey (pictured below with Chase, L-R)!

Sunday night we had the Hedricks and Carolyn Studley over for dinner and Chase got to play with Zoe and her brother, Dayton (click here for photo and story).

All in all it was a fun, activity-filled weekend. Do I really have to go back to work tomorrow? ;) Photos of the weekend coming soon to our Photo Album.

Congratulations to Jordin AND Blake

OK, I have some things to say today about this week's American Idol finale....

First of all, I'm glad Jordin won... not because I liked her better, but because Blake needs to have more artistic freedom than an American Idol contract would have given him.

First, an American Idol rant: The one thing that really gets me about this show is the fact that the show chooses the first single for the winner... and that they give the SAME SONG to both finalists to sing in the finale. Blake and Jordin are completely different artists with completely different styles. To give them the same song to perform in the finale was just stupid. The song was a power balad. Of course Jordin was going to blow Blake out of the water on that one. He didn't even stand a chance. They go on and on to contestants throughout the entire season about choosing the right song for their voices, and then they don't give them a chance to pick their own finale piece/first single. It is so backwards. This year they had a song-writing contest for the winner's first single, which is fine... but they should have picked a handful of songs of different styles for the two finalists to choose from. Ugh, I could go on and on about this forever. But let's talk about the finalists now.

Jordin: Jordin has a beautiful voice and is definitely talented. I just couldn't get over her "17-year-old-ness" to fall in love with her. I always got this impression of immaturity from her that I couldn't get past. But she has an unbelievably amazing voice. Good for her.

Blake: In the beginning I thought Blake was a lot of fun but didn't give him much credit to go very far in the competition. But in the last several weeks he has really impressed me as an artist. He may not have the most amazing voice I've ever heard, but he has talent in all areas of music. The fact he could arrange a piece of music to fit his own style shows his abilities as a true artist. He's not just a voice, he's an artistic package, and I have a lot of respect for that. I want to see him go far. And just all-around I think he's a cool person.

So to sum it up, before the performances Tuesday night I was rooting for Blake to win the whole thing. After the show I was hoping Blake didn't win, because he didn't need to start his career with that crappy single the show picked for him. He needs freedom to do what he needs to do as an artist. Winning, I think, would have inevitably hurt him. So it turned out exactly as it should have.

CW.... OUT!

More Peas, Please?

Tonight Chase had his first experience with peas. He wasn't too sure of them at first but in the end he decided they were pretty yummy after all. Check out the short video clip below of his very first bite. His facial expressions are priceless!

You don't need your sound on (all you would hear is Brian's and my laughter, anyway). Ah, the cheap thrills of 2 people who don't get out much anymore....

Blackberry Farms

Today we three musketeers went to Blackberry Farms. Brian and Chase have a season pass and frequent it often during the week while I'm at work, but today I got to join them and see all the fun things they get to do while I'm stuck at the office! ;)

Here's a picture a nice lady on the carousel volunteered to take of us. It would have been such a cute photo of all three of us had Chase not been soooo tired...!

Photos of our day are posted in our Photo Album, FYI.

5 Months

It's hard to believe Chase is 5 months old today! Here is his 5 month photo.

Click here to compare it to his 4 month photo!

You can also see a slideshow of his month photos on the Chase page of our website, FYI. [Update 1/18/08: This page no longer exists. If you would like me to email you a slideshow of the progression, let me know!]

Random photos taken over the last month are now in our Photo Album (labeled "Chase: 4 Months - Misc."), FYI.

Goodbye Melinda

I am so very, very sad today. Melinda was voted off American Idol. She was my favorite... an amazing talent! Though I will say out of the top 3 she was the least marketable. I mean, look at last year's winner (man, I can't even remember his name....). He was a great talent, too, but not marketable, and as a result is now considered American Idol's first "failure." So I had to somewhat agree with America's decision based on that fact alone.

But I am still sad for her, though she went out with her head held high... lots of class.

Interesting top 2. I'll save my opinions on Blake and Jordin for next week's final results post.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was my very first Mother's Day! We celebrated it at the Brookfield Zoo (photos posted in our Photo Album). Here's a cute photo of Chase (and me) taken at the zoo in his new sun hat (the burping cloth over my shoulder is a classy touch, isn't it?). And if you look closely you can see the beautiful diamond circle journey pendant Chase got me for Mother's Day (click on the photo for a larger view). What can I say... the boy has taste! I'm such a lucky Mom....

Photos Posted

Photos of the weekend with my parents are now posted in our Photo Album. Enjoy!

Goodbye LaKisha

We said goodbye to LaKisha on American Idol last night. I was afraid that would happen this week. No one can deny that LaKisha is extremely talented. The girl has some serious pipes! But I think her song choices in the last few weeks did her in. She'll have some sort of music career as a result of this experience, I'm sure. Still, it was sad to see her go....

Grandma & Grandpa K Visit

My parents were in town for a short while this weekend on their way to Costa Rica (I'm so jealous!), putting me on the other side of the camera for once. Just thought I'd share one of the only decent photos I have of Chase and me as a result!

Chase's grandparents were also kind enough to babysit while Brian and I went on a much needed date! We went out for an incredibly yummy dinner and then to the casino to get rich (unfortunately that plan didn't work out as well and we lost $60 instead). Afterwards we topped the evening off by going out for dessert. Yummmmmmm.... Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Pics of the weekend coming soon to our Photo Album!

Easter Photos

Easter photos (which include photos of Chase's first swim!) are finally posted in our Photo Album. Check them out!

Slideshows

I've gone slideshow happy. I added slideshows to this page, our Photo Album, Chase's page and Our Travels page. Check them out!

I'm so proud of myself. :)

Goodbye Phil & Chris R

America got it exactly right this week on American Idol. Phil and Chris were the weakest performers left in the bunch.

Phil has a great upper range but his lower, softer range was weird for me. It was more old fashioned/borderline classical and it just didn't seem to match the powerhouse vocals he showed up top.

Chris has a cool voice but it could use some technical training. He needs to learn to sing correctly (he's going to hurt his voice!) and his pitch isn't solid. I think he depended on his runs and when he couldn't hide behind them his vocals were shaky.

The top 4 deserve to be the top 4 and it's going to be a good competition from here on out! I'm excited!