Home is where the army sends us!

Valentine's Day 2012

2012-02-14T19:15:00.000-06:00

This year we were missing our biggest Valentine a lot! I can't wait until next year when we are all together again. It's days like Valentine's that throw you for a loop when you think you are doing good and make this deployment seem really long and lonley.

I got the idea for Chase's valentine's off pinterest of course and I think they turned out really cute. While surfing pinterest one night I also saw another cute valentine idea and thought I would make them for the girls at work. They turned out pretty cute.

"I dig you"

Chase and I made strawberry cupcakes using nothing but diet 7-up last night and they were pretty moist and tasty. They don't do a big party at preschool although I really wish they did, I think that's part of the fun of being a kid, but he did get some valentine's and hand out some at daycare.

My Valentine's gift this year is a massage which I have scheduled for tomorrow. Chase got a new chipmunks movie, 2 new books and some candy. I can't wait to get his done! Hope everyone had a great Valentine's and spent time with the ones you love.

blowing a kiss

my sweetest Valentine

Jer's love box!

2012-02-07T21:27:00.000-06:00

I made and sent out Jeremy's Valentines box early in the month so he would hopefully get it in time. I made most of what was in the box via idea's I found on pinterest.

The first thing I made was the deck of cards that was 52 reasons why I love you. This took some time but it was fun coming up with the ideas of what to put on each card. I know I don't tell him enough all the little things I love about him and thought this would be a good reminder.

I also used some free printables I found on pinterest and wrapped candy bars up with these. I made the same cookies for the box that I made for him all the time when we were dating. I used to make these if he had to work late and leave them on his car so he would have a treat when he got off.

Chase also made some painted Valentine's for him that he had a lot of fun making. I had fun making all of these things for him and hope if brought him a little Valentines spirit across the world.

3 months down 9 to go!

2012-02-04T21:02:00.000-06:00

We are 1/4 of the way through this deployment!! I can say that it's gone by fast but I can also say that this month I have really struggled with being alone. After the holidays were over and the weather still cold it's been really hard to keep Chase and I busy.

We are 1/2 way to R&R and I can't wait for May to get here. Not only will Jeremy be home for a few weeks but we will also meet our baby girl. I hope the next 3 months go by fast. I have tried to keep busy with project ideas I have found on pintrest, getting ready for my sister's baby shower, and working. I ordered a dresser for the babies room and once it finally get's here then I can start arranging things and putting them away. This month at work has been crazy with switching over companies but it has been such a good change for us.

Chase continues to love preschool and Judo. He is just as ready for the weather to warm up as I am as he would live outdoors if you would let him.

This month we look forward to going to visit the Coffey's in Atlanta for a few days. Chase is very excited to take his suitcase and go on an airplane. I love that February is a short month even with it being a leap year and should fly by!

It's a baby Girl!

2012-01-28T19:28:00.000-06:00

I honestly would not have guessed we were having a girl! I thought that I would end up with a house full of boys and I was ok with that. I have everything for a boy and know how to handle them, but we could not be more excited to be adding a little pink to this house! Chase's first response was to say "Oh Man" as he really wanted a brother but he's excepted it quickly and told everyone her name will be sissy. It's still hard to believe we will have hair bows, and dresses in this house! I have a lot of shopping to do but I'm sure I can handle the job!

The deal on clothes my mom and I scored for baby girl

2 months down 10 to go!

2012-01-28T19:25:00.000-06:00

**A little late in posting forgot is was saved, a 3 month down post will be done next week!!**

We are officially 2 months into this deployment. Although it still feels like we have an eternity left these last 2 months really have gone by pretty fast.

Jeremy is finally starting to run missions which will make his time go by a lot faster. They opened a new dining facility where he is which have made the living conditions much better. Mail seems to move pretty quickly as he has gotten most of our boxes within 2 weeks.

Christmas went by fast although it didn't quite feel like Christmas this year. This is normally my favorite holiday but with Jeremy not being here it just seemed like it came and went. I was actually happy to take the tree down knowing that the next time I see it our family will all be together again! Chase was spoiled as usual for Christmas and even though we really didn't get him any toys he still came home with a pile of stuff.

Chase starts back up to preschool tomorrow and Judo this week as well and we are ready to get back into a routine and make our time pass quickly! 4 moths left until baby girl will be here and daddy will be home for a visit. I've never been more ready for spring.

I have signed up for a beginning quilting class, who would have thought we will see how well this goes. Next month it's off to Atlanta for Chase and I to visit the Coffey's and we are excited to get away and spend a few days with them.

11 months to go and 17 weeks down

2011-12-10T17:14:00.000-06:00

Jeremy has officially been gone 5 weeks now and today hit the 17 week mark in my pregnancy. Although this month has past pretty quickly it's still daunting to see how many days we still have to go. Jeremy has finally made it to his final destination after a month of travel and is finally starting to get settled in. We just sent our first packages the other day and 5 boxes and $95 later they are on there way. I could not believe how much it cost to mail those boxes. Since his last deployment the flat rate boxes have gotten smaller and more expensive. We have been very lucky to be able to skype as much as we have this time we didn't have that at all last time.

watching his movie from Santa

Chase is loving preschool and gets very excited to go every time. He also is loving Judo and was very disappointed when they didn't have class the day before Thanksgiving. He listens really well to he instructor and is getting better and better at all of his moves. I wish I could upload a video from a week ago for you but my phone won't let me. While doing his warm up jumping jacks his pants fell completely off to the ground, oops for mom for not having them tied tight enough. He is by far the shortest and smallest in the class and everyone always talks about how cute he is. Most of the other kids are already 4 so it's funny to see him next to them. He says some of the funniest stuff some times and the last two days he has been very concerned about if daddy has pajama's to sleep in at work and does daddy have a shower at work to take a bath. Funny how his little mind works. We went a saw Santa last weekend and he told Santa that he wanted a remote control helicopter and the pig game that eats hamburgers and gets bigger and bigger. He has been really big on watching Christmas movies this year and has named his elf colorful, I have no idea where this name came from but he has stuck with it. He loves the Charlie Brown Christmas book, I think we have read it at least twice a night. He can sing Hark the Harold Angels sign and rehearse parts of the book. Last night we went and bought the movie and he has wanted to watch it over and over. Most days he behaves pretty well but we have sure had our moments that I think "how many more days to I have to do this alone?"

Thanksgiving and 15 weeks

17 weeks into the pregnancy I feel really good. I had a doctor's appt this week where things seem to be right on track. I haven't gained any weight yet which is exactly the way I was with Chase. Our ultrasound is scheduled for the 28th so we will see if we are on team pink or blue this time. I can honestly say I don't have a feeling either way this time. It would be great for Chase to have a brother to rough house and play with but a little more pink in this house would be a blessing too. We shall see. This ultrasound will also confirm my dates and and allow me to go ahead and schedule my c-section so that Jeremy can hopefully schedule his R&R to be here for the arrival. I finally made it back to the gym this week after way to long of a break and it felt great. I'm so glad this deployment seems to be passing quickly but my nights still get pretty lonely after Chase is in bed and getting into the Christmas spirit has been a little harder as well. We have our tree up and pretty much all of my shopping is done but I haven't wrapped one thing.

16 weeks

17 weeks

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas just remember to think about those who can't be at home this season.

Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon When You Take the North "Poll"

2011-11-10T19:55:00.002-06:00

Melissa & Doug want you to tell them which of their educational toys you think is the best! Just click on the image below to place your vote in the North "Poll!" You'll Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon** to use at MelissaAndDoug.com just for voting!

1st day of preschool

2011-11-10T19:40:00.000-06:00

I truly can not believe this is the title of my post! To think that Chase is old enough for preschool already just seems so surreal to me. We put him on the waiting list about a month ago for a 2 day a week program that would just give him something to pass the time and hopefully learn some new things. We got the call last week that he was accepted and could start this week! Jeremy was home and was able to go to orientation. Chase was able to meet his teacher and see his room and he did not quit talking about it after that.

We kept practicing what his teacher's name was although he knew what it was he kept pushing our buttons by saying her name was Simba. Last night we picked out his clothes for school today and made sure his backpack was ready to go. He slept in his bed like a champ until 4am when he came and woke me up and asked if it was time for school! "Are you kidding me, it's not time for anything but sleeping kid" He crawled into bed with me for the rest of the night and as soon as my alarm went off he was up and ready to go. He was completely dressed with teeth brushed and backpack on 30 minutes before we even had to go anywhere. Jeremy was also able to call before we walked out the door so he got to tell daddy all about what he was going to do that day. What a nice start to the day!

I dropped him off in his room and he was able to write the first letter in his name to show his teacher when we got there. He didn't even look back at me when I said bye. I think he had a blast. At about 15 minutes before I was suppose to pick him up they called to say he had fallen and hit his head. He was ok but they did put an ice pack on it. I failed to tell them this is an everyday occurrence in our household. My sister picked him up and took him to lunch and he was asleep in the car before she even got him to the sitters. I think he loves it and is excited to go back.

I hope for him that his zest for learning is always there. That he is just excited in 10 years as he was today. I am so excited to see him learn and become confident in all he knows. What a bittersweet day for me but I was so proud to see him in there.

1 year to go :(

2011-11-04T08:45:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's time for Jeremy to deploy. It seems like we've been anticipating it forever now, but man has time gone by fast. Although we knew this was coming, it has been extremely rough this time. I think part of it is hormones and thinking about Chase being sad without his daddy. I know that time will pass quickly and one year from now we will be together again as a family of 4 but the tears just don't seem to stop.

I'm trying to think of things to do this winter that will keep Chase and I busy as the winter always seems to pass the slowest. We enrolled Chase into Judo once a week and he just got accepted for 2 day a week pre-school so hopefully that will help pass the time. With the holidays coming we will be busy with family and trying to get all of our shopping done, but come January we will be getting cabin fever! I am planning a trip for Chase and I to see the Coffey's in Atlanta sometime in early spring so that will give us something to look forward to. I've also done some things to hopefully make things easier for Chase and help him count down the days until daddy comes home. We have talked a lot about daddy going a way for a long time, watched movies and read books about it and I think he gets it as much as a 3 year old can. I got a chalkboard for our kitchen that we will change the days on every night before bed as well as a candy jar that he can take one piece out of a day helping to show how close we are getting. Jeremy recorded 3 recordable story books for him to read at bedtime and hopefully we will be able skype so Chase can see and talk to daddy.

So to my husband and best friend I want you to know that I love you so very much! That we will miss you every single day! That holidays, birthday's and family dinners will not be the same with out you here. Chase and I need you and need you to stay safe and come home to us. Although I gripe at you about some things I will miss those things too, I am sure. You are such a huge part of this household and a huge whole will be here until you return. I promise to do everything I can to make this deployment easier for you, I promise to be the best mom I can be to Chase and continue to raise a smart and funny boy until your return. My life is not complete without you and one year can not pass quickly enough! So as we start this long journey know that your little boy is just like you, that he loves you more than you will ever know, and looks up to you so much. He and I will miss you like crazy and will look forward to each milestone on our countdown until you come home! I love you and I'm so proud of you and what you do! I'll see you soon!

Love your wife and sweet little boy!

May 2012

2011-11-03T12:11:00.000-05:00

Pink or Blue we can't say but baby #2 is due in May!

That's right Jeremy and I are expecting another addition to our family in May. Although this will be a slightly stressful time with Jeremy being deployed we are very excited. I'm not going to lie when I found out I was pregnant I bawled! I thought how am I going to be a good mom to Chase when he has to share my attention with someone else. I just didn't feel like it was fair to him with his daddy being gone as well. I was and still am nervous about doing it on my own for 6 months while Jeremy is gone, but I know this is just a bump in the road and it will all be worth it in the end.

We are 12 weeks now. Jeremy is insisting we find out the sex while I wanted to wait. Since he won't be here though I suppose I will let him win this one! I'll keep you up to date on our progress and the sex as soon as we know. Don't expect a name right away though, I'm very much an indecisive person and didn't name Chase until after he was born.

Viva Las Vegas

2011-10-03T20:42:00.000-05:00

Jeremy and I just got back from a long weekend in Las Vegas and we had a blast. Chase stayed with grandma and papa and I'm sure he had a blast as well. With Jeremy leaving soon we decided to take a little time for just the two of us and I'm so glad we did.

We flew out on Thursday afternoon and landed in Vegas at 4. We checked into our hotel the NYNY and decided the grab some dinner. That night we just walked a little of the strip to check everything out and then hit the sack early since the time difference was catching up to by 10pm. Our hotel was great and really did remind us of NY city. All the restaurants and shops are set up like shops in the city and the details on the outside were amazing. Our room was 700 sq ft and had a spa tub in the room by far the nicest room we've ever stayed in.

Friday we were up way early for Vegas life and left our hotel around 730, we quickly found out that besides breakfast there is nothing to do before 10 am. We walked down to the Bilagio and had breakfast there before walking around a shopping mall and picking up our tickets for the Cirque Du Solei show that night. We had planned to grab a nice dinner before the show but after eating a late lunch we decided something small would be the best. So we settled for pizza and headed back down to the Bilagio for the show. This was hands down the best show we saw while we were there. It was the O show and I highly recommend it!

Saturday we walked over the MGM and had there breakfast buffet which in my opinion was way overpriced for the food. We decided to buy a tour bus pass and rode that around for a while seeing things we hadn't walked that far the see yet. We followed the K-state football game online and played a few slots. We didn't have anything planned for Saturday night so we decided to check out the show at our hotel called Zumanity. Although it was ok it was nothing compared the O show and really had no story line it just had a lot of sexual undertones. The host of the show got very upset when Jeremy refused to participate in his little skit.

Sunday was our last full day in Vegas and we walked the side of the street we hadn't yet toured. We found a mall that we could afford to look in the stores. We headed back to the hotel early and change to go to our last show The Lion King. This show was amazing and made Jeremy and I want to go and buy The Lion King.

Although we had a blast in Vegas we were ready to come home and see our little boy and managed to catch a stand by flight 2 hours earlier than our original flight. We still didn't get home until 130 in the morning but it was good to be home.

We learned a few things in Vegas. People can be extremely rude, although all of the people that live and work there were great the people visiting were not so great. No thank you's to anyone, no respect for other people and these are things that really bug Jeremy and I. I learned I do not do heels well. I wore them for our Friday night show and my calves and feet were killing me. I guess I'm just a girl that likes comfort. The city is very clean despite the number of people always all over the place. The busy city life is not for us and the people standing on every corner trying to hand you business cards and fliers become very annoying after a few days. It was a great experience and I'm so glad we did it.

10 years

2011-09-11T08:59:00.000-05:00

10 years ago seems like so long ago but yet feels just like yesterday at the same time. I was a teacher's assistant in government class for Mr. Eckart that morning. I had been trying to call my dad to ask a question that I now can't even remember. When I finally reached him he told me what was going on in the news. I interrupted Mr. Eckart and told him what was going on, he sent me running down to the library to get a TV so we could watch the news that was unfolding before us. A lot of students left school that day others gathered in the gyms and auditoriums to watch the news. It seemed so unreal.

With my dad being active duty military and my mom working on post things instantly seemed to change. The base which had always been open to drive on and off of with no checkpoints was now shut down to only people with ID cards. The post has never opened up the way it was back then again and probably never will.

In 10 years I have

graduated high school

became a nurse

married a soldier

had a baby

moved states

my dad has retired from active duty

my sister has got married

I've endured a deployment with my then boyfriend

I have visited ground zero

Our world has changed so much since that day. The anniversary is different for me in the way that in a short period we will being saying goodbye to Jeremy as he deploys to Afghanistan for a year. Never will my son know how that day changed our country. At almost 3 years old he doesn't understand why daddy has to leave other than he's just going to work. We are a proud military family whose pride for this country gives me goosebumps when I hear the national anthem no matter where it is I am when I hear it.

I hope we never see anything that reflects the magnitude of this event again in our country, but this event brought our country together in a way that we will probably never see again either. I proud to live in this country and can't imagine anywhere else I would rather be! Let us never forget!

Kansas 1 year later

2011-07-28T10:19:00.000-05:00

It's been 1 year since we moved back from MO. It took Jeremy and I a while to feel like this house was home, for some reason we just kept saying our house in MO seemed more homey. Maybe is was because that was Chase's first house or maybe because it was the first place with were without anyone we knew, that house was not by any means spectacular but it felt like home. We are finally feeling that way about this house although I'm always changing something because it just doesn't seem to look right.

It's nice to be back around family and friends but we've also made new friends since being back and that's the best part of army life! As we mark the one year anniversary back here I am changing jobs. Before we moved to MO I worked giving chemotherapy in Manhattan which was hands down my favorite job! I love oncology and I missed it so much. When we got back they didn't have an opening so I found a job as an occupational health nurse at the local hospital. Well to make a long story short a couple weeks ago every worked out right and they called to see if I wanted a job back in oncology. I knew without a doubt I wanted to take it, but I had a very hard time putting in my notice to quit, you see I have never quit a job without it involving a life changing event ie. graduating nursing school, moving to a different state so this was something totally new to me and I hate change! That hospital was very good to me even to the end. Although I'm excited to do something I love again and I still shed a tear leaving people I had worked with for the last year and become friends with. Although I know I will see these people again from time to time I also know from experience that when you don't see them everyday you tend to slowly loose touch. I have said I would stay on PRN for them and work Wednesday afternoons or on the weekends from time to time so we will see how it goes.

Chase had grown so much over the last year! It's hard to believe when we moved here he wasn't even 2 years old and now in 3 short months he will be 3! He loves going to Maxines house and playing with his friends. He is such a smart cookie. He can now tell you all his colors, most shapes, his alphabet, count to 17 and has quite the vocabulary. People always ask how old he is because they can't believe how well he talks. Chase is still pretty short for his age although we haven't been to the doctor since he was 2 just comparing him to other kids he's a shrimp. He is a good eater and only has a few foods he doesn't like including butter (he cannot be my child), green beans he hates, and any kind of cold cheese except shredded cheese. Chase would live outside if you let him and plays baseball all day long. The kid has 3 bats, 3 gloves and to many balls to count. From the time he wakes up in the morning until we make him take a bath he wants to be outside. Jeremy and I have both played softball this summer and Chase cries went he games are over because he wants to keep watching. To think 1 year ago Chase was in his crib when we moved in here and has since transferred from crib to a toddler bed and now to a twin bed. He loves his big boy bed and sleeps all night in there and I usually have to come and wake him up every morning, although he is a lot like me in that he has to have his lamp on all night to go to sleep which is how I was when I was little. He is completely potty trained and loves wearing big boy underwear, Jeremy came home this morning to change from PT and I was still sleeping well Chase had just woken up and was going potty, putting on his underwear and picking out his clothes all by himself. He is Mr. Independentt and has to do everything himself only after trying something for several minutes will he let you help him, this is cute but can be extremely frustrating when your in a hurry to get somewhere. He is such a joy and I can't believe he's already a little man!

Jeremy has had a very busy last year of work taking over a platoon and training them to get ready to deploy. Jeremy is due to deploy in the fall and this will be a new adventure for us. Although Jeremy and I have been through a deployment before we weren't married and we didn't have a little guy to think about. We knew this time was coming so it's not a big shock to us but I'm not looking forward to it. We are trying to do as much as we can together before that time comes, we have season tickets to K-State football for the first time, we are going to Vegas just the 2 of us in September, and are just trying to relax and spend time together.

Well there is a recap of our last year here in KS. We've had some ups and downs but our last year had been great. Although Jeremy will be gone most of this next year I look forward to what it holds for us and a year from now he will be almost home!

Lake, Fair, and the Rodeo a perfect KS weekend!

2011-07-25T20:55:00.000-05:00

This weekend was a true Kansas weekend. Friday night we decided to take Chase to local county fair for his first time really riding the rides. He has ridden a few little ones before but never anything like the fair. Our fair is nothing fantastic but it's exactly what I remember growing up and I'm so glad I have the opportunity to take Chase there. We just bought 10 tickets which by the way was $25 that's like admission to worlds of fun! Chase liked all the rides except the motorcycles which I don't think he liked because they went up and down and were a rough. He loved the cars, trucks, and his favorite ride was the huge slide! He made Jeremy ride that thing like 5 times. We decided to have him try the crocodile roller coaster, he loved it for the first two laps smiling and laughing and then after that he was hanging on for his life and looking like he was going to get sick. I wish I could have gotten a picture of his face because it was priceless but I was to busy laughing! I know that's mean but he just looked so funny!

Saturday we originally had plans to go to Milford and rent a boat for the day with some friends, but Friday they closed Milford down for swimming and skiing do to blue algae. Our friend said he looked online and found a great mile long beach near a ranch at Tuttle. So we followed him for about and hour parked at what we thought was the top of the beach and started walking. When we arrived at the "beach" all Val and I could do was laugh because it was a little watering hole with a tire floating and full of mud. We could see an area of sand to the left but had no idea how to get to it. So we back tracked and walked about a mile through a corn field pulling coolers and carrying chairs to get to this beach. We finally made it and had a good time but it was sure an adventure! To top it off on the way back through the corn field I somehow managed to get a splinter from one of the stocks lodged under a toenail! Ouch! After finally making it home from our lake adventure we hurried and changed and headed to the rodeo. Val and John had never been to a rodeo and I think everyone had a really good time. Chase was pooped and slept past 9 the next morning.

Sunday we got some grocery shopping done, I met some girls for lunch, had dinner at my parents and then Jeremy and I played softball. It was a tournament game and in the 5th inning with our tie run on 3rd base they called the game do to lightning. For the first time in 2 weeks it started pouring and dropped over 20 degrees! Next weekend I'm heading to KC with my girlfriend to see Kenny Chesney in concert and I'm so excited! I start my new job next week as well and I'm really looking forward to it!

Birthday and 4th of July FUN!

2011-07-21T19:36:00.000-05:00

.....Way Late but I still wanted to post it.......

What a busy weekend we had. I think I need a few days off just to recover. Thursday was my 27th Birthday eeeek! It's kind of surreal to me that I'm already 27 time sure passes fast when your having fun. I worked during they day and then we met my familiy in Manhattan to have dinner at Longhorn's, if you have never eaten there I highly recommend it great food and excellent service. After dinner we headed over to my parents house for ice cream cake that Chase was insistant I needed to have for my birthday. Jeremy got me a new camera lense for my cannon that will zoom a lot further than the one that came with it, and my parents and sister got me somethings for the house.

Funny story about the ice cream cake. When we got home from dinner on Thursday I asked Jeremy if he would get the cake out of the car and stick it in the freezer in our garage. Well the next day he informs me he kind of messed up and put the cake in the fridge instead and freezer he said "it's fine it's just a little smaller". I went to go have a look for myself and a little smaller was a ver big understatement! It still taste good just a little condensed.

Friday I only worked a half day originally so we could go out of town, but the army changed that and Jeremy needed to march in the 4th of July parade so we just stuck around town. Although I would have loved to see my MO friends it was nice to just be home! I took Chase to the pool Friday afternoon and he was spent by the time we got home. He feel asleep at the bottom of the steps and stayed that way for 2 hours! When he woke up all he wanted for dinner was a poptart, Jeremy had to go to Topeka for a soldier that was badly injured in a motorcycle accident so I was ok with a poptart and not having to cook. I thought for sure he would want to get up and go play outside but he didn't he just watched his movie and was ready for bed by 830.

Saturday Jeremy decided to finish up staining our fence and what a project it has been. He rented a industrial sprayer from True Value but way under estimated how much stain we would need! Chase and I had lots of errands to run and Jeremy needed us to get more stain, my sister was bugging me to take Chase back to the pool. I told her this was only possible if she was willing to help me run these errands so I didn't have to get Chase in and out of the car at every stop. We ran by Home Depot for stain, took that clear back to JC and then had to go to post to grocery shop and pick up a few things at the PX. After getting home and unloading all of that it was finally time to get to the pool. Jeremy had done as much as he could on the fence running out of stain with just one section left and decided to just return the sprayer and finish that section by hand when we picked more up. Chase again had a blast at the pool! Manhattan has really improved there pools from when I was younger the little kid areas are great with lots of slides and splash areas, this makes me wish I didn't work summers and lived closer to the pool! We grilled out with my parents and sister and brother in-law Saturday night and just relaxed and rented a movie.

Sunday Jeremy decided we needed to get up and go the breakfast since this is something we rarely do. It was a rainy morning so after finally getting around we headed to Craker Barrell and ate a late breakfast. We also decided do to the weather we would take Chase to his first movie theater experience and take him to see Cars 2. For being 2 he did fairly well no screaming no running around just a lot of changing seats and he ate a ton of popcorn!! We came home and rested a while after the movie and then headed to a co-worker of Jeremy's house. We grilled and then set off fireworks. Chase absolutely loved this and Jonas was so nice to let Chase help with every firework. The rockets were by far his favorite! We didn't get home until about 11. We would have loved to sleep in but we had to get up early on Monday to get downtown for the parade. Chase enjoyed the parade but it was scorching hot so we left and went home to rest in the AC for a while after that.

4th of July we went to some neighbors/friends house down the street that had just recently moved in for a BBQ. It was great time, low key, good food and great conversation. Chase and I left to walk home before the fireworks had started there. It was 9:30 and he still needed a bath since we had to go back to work the next day. All in all we had a great weekend with lots of activity. I love 4th of July and I'm somewhat bummed it's over and Jeremy won't be here next year :(

New York and Back

2011-06-22T21:15:00.000-05:00

We had a great time in New York for a whole week! I know we don't get up there nearly enough but when we do we have a blast. I told Jeremy though I'm convinced I'm never going in the winter again, the summer time is so pretty with mostly great weather and a lot more activities to enjoy!

Chase with his cousins

In Canada for some hotdogs

We decided to drive this time. Jeremy has driven this before straight through, but I told him the only way I would drive it is if he promised to stop and stay somehwere I just was not going to strap Chase in a car seat for 24 hours. I didn't know how the drive was going to go whether we would be divorced or want to kill each other by the time we got there but plane tickets were crazy expensive so we went for it. Honestly it was a great drive, we saw a lot of country side, had great weather pretty much the whole way and Chase was GREAT! We brought his DVD player with us and between that and the books he had, he was content. We packed a picnic lunch and stopped at a rest area for lunch both days so we could get out stretch and let Chase run a little. The first day we drove a little over 700 miles and stopped in Dayton, Ohio. We ate dinner swam it the pool and just relaxed. We got up bright and early the next morning and hit the road, we made it to Jeremy's parents about 6 that night.

Besides the usual visiting with family and friends and just relaxing we had the chance to do some things we don't normally get to do up there since it's always cold when we go. The first was Jeremy and I went white water rafting on the Hudson at Indian Lake. We decided instead of buying each other anything for our anniversary we would rather take and trip or do something different every year to remember the day. Jeremy grew up in upstate NY his whole life and didn't even realize you could white water raft up there. It was a little chilly the day we went only a high of 65, but we suited up in wet suits and hit the water. It was a blast! The trip was 17 miles long and took us about 5 hours to complete. We stopped and had lunch and we had some super hilarious older gentleman from the long island area on our raft and they made the trip that much better. Jeremy and I are always such suckers for the pictures they take when you go to these sorts of things and always end up buying them, this time was no different $40 later we had a disc of our adventure. A little pricy but something we will always have to remember our time. We had a great time and I didn't get thrown off a major BONUS! We are excited about the next time we can do this although I think we are ready for some class 4 and 5 rapids next time :)

getting ready to raft

catching some waves

We also decided to make the trip to Montreal while we were up there. It's only an hour drive from Jeremy's parents, that being said Jeremy had hardly ever been there so we both were pretty clueless of where to go and what to do. I had looked up online and saw that old Montreal was a must for experiencing the oldest part of the city with cobblestone streets and shops and decided we would try this out, the only problem we had no idea how to get there. All the street signs in Montreal are in French and French is the native language making it hard to decide how to get where you are going. As we got close to Montreal I decided that the sign that said Centre Ville had to mean center of town and we should just follow it. After we exited I told Jeremy to stop at a gas station and I would ask for directions. This guy spoke pretty good english and was able to get a map out to show me where to turn, luckily we were only a few blocks away. We found where we wanted to go but parking on the other hand was a whole different story. It's like being in NYC but everythings foreign. We finally found a place to park and after a little confusion I figured out how to switch the pay station to english and figured out how to pay for our space. Jeremy, Chase and I walked down to the Cathedral at the bottom of the hill, it was a truly beautiful place. The city itself was a lot dirtier than other cities we've visited which really surprised me and they have a overwhelming population of homeless people. Funny how only 45 minutes from our border there is a vastly different culture and area to explore!

Beautiful city

Old Montreal

on the way back to the US

Chase eating lunch in Montreal

We walked in and out of shops, walked by the court house, and bought some souvenirs. Things in Canada are defiently more expensive! We ate at a great Italian resteraunt and shared a individual pizza, a pasta dish and each had a drink and it cost us $45!! WOW! It was the best pizza by far but I couldn't believe how much more it cost there. We really had a good time and our goal is that every time we go visit family in NY we will take 1 day that we go to Montreal and see something different that we haven't seen before. It is a great city full of culture and there is so much to see and do that you could easily get overwhelmed if you were trying to fit all of it in in a short couple days.

We spent the rest of our visit just visiting family and friends and relaxing. We ate a lot of hotdogs, I know some of you are thinking you drove 24 hours to eat hotdogs but let me tell you there is no other hotdogs like them! They are the best hands down! It's amazing to me that the summer is upstate NY is so short usually just about 6 weeks of totally warm/hot weather and yet almost every backyard you look in has a nice big pool in it. They have ice cream shops on just about every corner with every flavor imaginable in soft serve! My favorite was a orange shake! YUMMM! Makes you wonder in as hot of a climate as we have here in the summer that there are not more ice cream shops around here.

We left bright and early Saturday morning to start our long journey home and our goal was just to make it to Indianapolis which is just over half way but when we got there Chase was very content sleeping and watching his movie that we decided to push it a little further. We ended up stopping in Terre Haute, Indiana for that night which put us a 900 miles and 16 hours of driving. We were tired but glad to know that we would make it home at a good time the next day to get ready for work. We woke up at 5am eastern time and hit the road by 6. We crossed time zones appox 30 minutes after hitting the road and made it home by 1 Sunday afternoon. I will also mention that Chase did awesome with his pottying, only going when we stopped and never having one accident! I thought for sure he would have some being in the car that long!

This is how we survived the trip

Well I'll close my very long post now. Enjoy the pics and we can't wait for our next adventure, hoping to go to Colorado before Jeremy deploys and bike down pike's peak! We shall see...

4 year, 2 moves and 1 baby later!

2011-06-16T06:04:00.000-05:00

Today is Jeremy and I's 4 year wedding anniversary. We have moved twice, had one baby, bought a house, I have had 3 different jobs and we are preparing for our first deployment since we've been married. These last 4 years have been crazy and chaotic but I wouldn't trade one minute of one day.

The other day as I was driving down the road I heard a song that really made me think about our approaching anniversary and what it means to us. This song says " I do cherish you. For the rest of my life you don't have to think twice, I will love you still from the depth's of my soul it's beyond my control, I've waited so long to say this to you, if you're asking do I love you this much? I do"

the day we got engaged in NY city

honeymoon Hawaii

First year of marriage

right before we went to the hospital to have Chase

Jeremy taught me to ski in NY

So here is to 4 great years and lifetime more to go. We don't always have a perfect relationship but we always love each other and we always work it out. I can't imagine my life without him in it, and can't believe it's already been 4 years.

Coffey visit and Memorial weekend

2011-06-01T21:05:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we were very fortunate to have our great friends the Coffey's drive all the way from Atlanta to spend the holiday weekend with us. We have known the Coffey's for 6 years now and even though they haven't lived in KS for almost 3 years we've still managed to see each other about once a year. This was the fist time they've came back to KS since leaving and although not a lot has changed it was nice to just hang out and let the kids play.

bowling pros

They arrived on Friday and we just ordered pizza and relaxed since they had been in the car all day. Saturday morning we all woke up and decided to go into Manhattan and Ft. Riley to show them how things have changed and planned on going to a carnival that night. I had seen the poster hanging at work and thought the kids would love it! Well to make a long story short a carnival was no where to be found so we just grabbed some dinner and decided to take the kids on their first bowling adventure. They had a blast and were done with their games before the adults were.

Sunday we headed to Salina to go to the Rolling Hills Zoo. Garrett and Chase loved this, they had to stop and look at their map to make sure we were going the right way at every stop. We ate lunch there and the kids were out in the car before we even left the parking lot. That evening my parents and grandparents came over and joined us for dinner, I would have loved to eat outside but it was so windy we could barely get things grilled.

navigators

On our last day with the Coffey's we headed to KC and took the kids to the T-Rex resteraunt to eat. They were very excited to see all the dinosaurs and pick out a toy although this was a very tough decision for Garrett. We headed to the Royals game after that and got really good cheap seats. We ended up moving further down where no one was sitting so the boys could have their own seats. This was Chase's first baseball game that he was old enough to understand what's going on and he loved it. He sat most of the game with his baseball glove on and for as long as a baseball game lasts he did very well. The Coffey's hit the road after the game, we were sad to see them go but so happy we got to visit with them. Chase and I already have plans to visit next year when Jeremy is gone and David will be working, and we are planning our big Disney vacation with them for 2013 when Jeremy get's home.

We are very lucky to have the Coffey's for friends, you don't find friends like them very often who are willing to endure a very long car ride with 2 small children just to come see us. Although we don't talk as often as we should, whenever we do it's like we haven't missed a beat. I can't wait for our trip to Atlanta next year!

I hope everyone had as good of a holiday weekend as we did. We were thankful that Jeremy was home with us this year, and we defiantly know the meaning of such an important holiday. To all of our vetran's and current service members we thank you for your service to our great country.

playing baseball

Rolling Hills

T-Rex

Ty such a happy baby

Daddy and Chase baseball game

saying goodbye

Easter 2011

2011-04-26T18:57:00.000-05:00

This weekend was a low key but productive weekend in our household. Friday Jeremy and I were both off so we kept Chase and got a lot done. I had an appt that morning so Jeremy and Chase dropped me off and then headed off to breakfast just the two of them at IHOP. Jeremy said Chase was very well behaved and Chase told me all about having pancakes and chocolate milk. After they picked me up we ran by a few stores to get Chase's easter stuff and pick up a case for our Jordy Nelson signed football. Jeremy stayed in the car with Chase at these stops since it was prettty rainy and cold out. We then headed to the mall to have lunch and Chase had to ride the horsey, he has to do this every time we leave it's our bribe to get him to be good while we are in the mall which generally works well! That afternoon we had appointments to get our passports done since we will be headed to Canada when we visit Jeremy's family in June, (did you know you aren't allowed to smile in a passport photo?) that was a tough task for Chase as he says Cheese any time he see's the camera haha! We spent some time relaxing the rest of the afternoon and then met some friends at Longhorn's steakhouse for some delicious food before taking Chase back to the mall to see the Easter bunny. It's funny seeing all the other kids scared of the bunny and Chase just ran right up to him with open arms, the kid has no fear!

sitting with the easter bunny

Running right up

Saturday while Jeremy worked on the yard Chase and I headed to town to pick out some flower's for a project we wanted to complete that day, again it was cold and wet but we made do and found what we needed. Chase wanted to go with my parent's so he spent practically all day with them going to different stores and I went home and helped Jeremy complete our yard project. I have to say we are pretty proud of it and really happy with the way it turned out. We hope to get our shrubs planted this weekend. We grilled out Saturday night with my parents and dyed easter eggs which Chase loved. Jeremy had to work midnights that night so I just did laundry and hung out for the rest of the night.

Our project the corners of the driveway

tasting the dye

finished product

Sunday Chase slept until 830 and woke up to his new grill and basket full or goodies. He made me a few burgers and hotdogs before breakfast and loves serving us food. We got dressed and headed to my parents so Jeremy could get some sleep. My dad hid eggs around the back yard and Chase found every one of them I think there were 44 in all! They had 4 shiny gold and silver ones mixed in that were bigger and whenever he found on of those he got super excited because he new something good was in those ones. He got a little car, motorcycle and money in those! We have so much candy that we don't need, I don't think I'll do that again next year! We watched a movie and then Jeremy came over and we headed to K-mart to buy patio furniture that was in there ad. I've been dying for new patio furniture for a while and I'm super excited to use it! We ate dinner with them and then came home to get ready for our week. Even though Chase was super tired not having a nap for 2 straight days and playing non-stop he had a rough night and would not go to sleep until I finally gave up and let him be in our bed about 11! Needless to say he was super grouchy this morning, he keeps telling me he needs a bigger bed and I think he may be right!

New grill and basket

opening all his eggs

Oh Spring how I've missed you!

2011-04-15T22:02:00.000-05:00

I can't tell you how happy I am that spring is finally arriving. I am not a cold weather person and this winter seemed so long compared to normal. We have had quite a busy spring so far with my sister's wedding just 2 weeks ago and trying to get some landscaping done on our house. Jeremy gets upset if he has an idea and then we come home and a neighbor has already thought of it, so we have to get moving!

This weekend the local dairy farm is having a spring open house where you can tour the milk facilities as well as make butter and take hay rack rides. It's free to the public and only about a mile from our house so I think I will defiantly be taking Chase out to that. We have some exciting events coming up as well to include a formal dinner for Jeremy's work, our friends the Coffey's coming into town the end of May and then we are planning on driving to NY to visit and see Jeremy's family for a week in June. We always go up there when it's cold and yucky and really wanted to drive up there sometime and enjoy the warm weather. Hopefully we will survive the 2 day drive with Chase!

I've kind of been in a funk lately! I have a lot of ideas of things to make, plant, bake and don't seem to get anything accomplished. I have decided that's it's time to drop a few pounds that I've been carrying since after Jeremy and I got married and so I'm really trying to watch what I eat. I've been working out 3 times a week since August but was still just eating whatever, whenever I wanted. Although my toning has gotten better I really haven't had the numbers on the scale go anywhere, so it was time for a change. Hopefully I will be able to stick to this and see some results. I'm so ready for sandal and shorts weather and to be able to take Chase to pool. The last 2 summers he and I went every week on my days off and although we probably will only be able to go every other week this year we'll still make the best of it!

Chase is still being his cute, jabbermouth, on the go self. He always has a story to tell and loves to be the clown in the crowd. He did awesome at Tiffany's wedding. At the rehearsal he had all of us a little nervous with his constant running around and grabbing of the microphone to sing twinkle, twinkle to everyone, but when it was showtime he walked right past the flower girls and walked to the front pew and sat down. Although he didn't stay there the whole time and came and stood by Jeremy and I at the alter he still was very quite and I couldn't have wished for more from a 2 year old. He lasted the whole night at the reception without a break down and danced the entire time. He was definitely pooped as he slept in until 9 the next morning with is unheard of for him!

Tonight we took him to the grand opening of Menard's were Jordy Nelson a former wildcat and super bowl champ for the Packers was signing autographs. My dad got there around 445 and I met him there at 530, although the signing didn't start until 6 my dad was still all the way on the other side of the isle. The line moved rather fast and Chase was very well behaved, we got to the front around 7 and Jordy was very nice to Chase and we finally got our autographs. Then we treated Chase to Orange Leaf our favorite place for being so good! Well I hope this rain goes away, turning the heat on tonight to turn it off tomorrow is for the birds!

What the heck?

2011-03-17T08:49:00.000-05:00

Chase is almost 29 months. It's hard to believe he will be 2 1/2 in a month, time just goes way too quickly. He is a very busy boy and likes to be on the go all the time. He learns something new everyday and usually will make me laugh everyday!

He loves being outside now that the weather is getting warmer, as soon as papa picks him up from daycare they are outside until I come to get him and then it's a huge fight coming indoors. We are looking into buying him a swing set in the next month or so because I know he will live out there this summer if we do. My parent's bought him a swing set for their house last year and he loves it as well as riding his power wheel jeep. In fact he told papa that his jeep needed music, so papa got out his arm band radio attached it to his steering wheel and Chase holds the ear bud up to his ear while he drives. Where does he come up with this stuff?

He can tell you a lot of colors including, blue, orange, yellow, black, purple and sometimes red and green. Jeremy is red/green color blind so we are waiting to see if this effects Chase as well. It usually tends to skip generations but they won't really be able to test him until he's 4. Potty training is going ok, most days he does really good. He's very in tune with when he needs to go but sometimes gets too busy playing and doesn't want to stop and go, very frustrating. I think he will go full potty mode when he decides it's on his terms that's how he does most things. He's kind of like his mamma!

His favorite foods are of course cookies, but he also loves pretty much any type of fruit his favorites being oranges, strawberries and apples but lately he has discovered raspberries and loves them as well. He's not to keen on veggie eating and I'm not sure how to fix this problem besides to keep offering them to him at every meal. I don't believe in forcing him to eat them if he doesn't want to, I think this leads to over eating and being over weight so he gets what we offer him and eats what he wants from that.

Here are a few of the funny conversations we've had with Chase lately:

Chase: "mom what doin?" Me: rolling down the window to get fresh air
Chase: "Chase don't like fresh air" Me: Chase doesn't like fresh air?
Chase: "No, Chase don't like fresh air, Chase like chicken and fren fries"
Ok buddy

What do you say about a jayhawk? Chase: "booo (while giving thumbs down) jayhawks
What do you saw about a wildcat? Chase: "yay (while giving thumbs up) wildcats boo jayhawks
That's my boy he learned early who he needs to root for!

While trying to untie his shoe to put it back on
"What the heck shoe, what the heck?"

While riding in the car to daycare
"mom, turn on sky" (wanting me to open the sunroof)

Chase was having a conversation with my sister on the phone a couple weeks ago and he was trying to tell her how he had gotten sick and was just riding in his diaper. Tiffany could not understand what he was saying and kept asking him to repeat it. After doing this a couple times Chase finally said "OH Tiff" "OH Tiff" and handed the phone to me as if giving up on trying to talk to her.

He wants to do everything himself and always says "Chase's turn, Chase's turn" he turns off and on all the lights in the house that he wants by taking his step stool from room to room. We typically have to read 2-3 books before bed every night and always have to read Goodnight Moon while he is laying in bed before he will go to sleep. We are taking Chase to see Disney on ice next weekend and plan on making a day of it and taking him to crown center and union station as well.

Ft. Riley starts offering mini karate and soccer at age 3 so this fall he should be able to get in on these things. I know he will love them. We also bought season tickets to K-State football for the first time, we've always made it to 1-2 games a season but never all of them and I'm really looking forward to it this year!

Well that's a Chase update, he always has something to say and has to have things just his way. In other news my hair straightener broke and I'm out of the product to make my hair curly. I sent my straightener off for replacement since it was still under warranty but it's going to be a long 2 weeks using a spare.

I hope everyone has a good St Patrick's Day. I had quite the dilemma on what to where today since I needed to where green and K-State plays today, so I settled on my St Patty's t-shirt with my K-State scrub jacket over it. No plans for us Jeremy is in the field all week so he has his green on and Chase is wearing his t-shirt although black it does have a green 4 leaf clover on it, and he is going fishing with papa after nap time. It's going to be a beautiful day just wish I could be outside to enjoy it more! Until next time!

Banana Whoopie Pies with Peanut Butter filling

2011-03-11T21:44:00.002-06:00

The other night as I was making dinner, I looked over and saw that we had a few banana's that were a little past there prime and decided this was a perfect excuse to make whoopie pies. I remembered that I had saw a recipe in my taste of home magazine for these and thought I was all set. As I was trying to get my ingredients together, I realized I didn't have buttermilk. I knew I had read before how you could add vinegar to milk to make buttermilk but couldn't remember the exact details so I decided to google this. After figuring that out I figured I would be all set. Then I got to looking for my baking soda and couldn't find this anywhere as well (it looks like I need to go to the store). Again I went back to google and realized that since my recipe called for both baking powder and baking soda substitution wasn't really and option, so the next best thing was googling a new recipe without baking soda. I found the recipe via baking bites that required no baking soda or buttermilk and got to making them.

For the filling I used the recipe from taste of home which required cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. After the cookies cooled I filled them and sprinkled them with a little more sugar and they were done. Although they didn't make very many whoopie pies they turned out great and Jeremy and Chase loved them!

Peanut Butter Filling
3 tbsp butter softened
1 cup peanut butter
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 pkg cream cheese

Cream butter, sugar and cream chesse together until creamy, add peanut butter until smooth and then gradually add in sugar and vanilla until completely mixed. Fill whoopie pies and store in the refrigerator.

Catch up

2011-03-11T21:23:00.001-06:00

I hope to be back to regular bloggings soon. We have been without a laptop for about 6 months now, and working from the desk top at home is not my favorite thing. We broke down and finally ordered a new laptop, it is in we just have to load everything and we will be up and running! I can not wait!

The last few weeks have been filled with sickness in our house. I got the stomach bug first while our friends the Bridgham's were in town, then a week later Chase got it while we were in Topeka for the circus, and finally Jeremy got it 2 days later. I think every linen has been washed twice by now and everyone seems to be rid of the nasty bug.

We had a wonderful time with the Bridgham's visiting! We miss them so much! Althought they're trip was short we did get to relax and chat and also take the kids to the K-State rodeo which they all loved. Chase and Russell are best buds, and I can only hope they Bridgham's get orders to join us here at Ft. Riley. Our time with them is always a good time full of laughter!

The week after the Bridgham's came, we took Chase to the Circus in Topeka with our friends the Och's. We met them at a Japanese steak house for lunch and then went to the circus. The kids had a great time, and got the ride the ponies which was Chase's favorite as well as eat all sorts of junk (cotton candy, popcorn, snow cone) No wonder Chase's stomach hurt when we left. Thank you Och's for inviting us!

This past weekend was my little sister's bridal shower. I can't believe she's getting married in 3 weeks, it doesn't seem like she should be that old yet! Her shower was at my house although I can't take any credit for planning it. Heather, Carol and Ashley did a great job with the food and entertainment and Tiffany recieved lots of nice gifts and recipes. Maybe there's hope for you yet Kyle that she will start cooking! You can only hope! After her shower Jeremy and I had a date night planned to head to Topeka and get dinner and then attend the Jeff Dunham show. Although dinner didn't quite work out the way we hoped since every place was packed by the time we got to Topeka ( we ate Taco John's), the night was still a lot of fun and a chance to relax and laugh without worrying about a kiddo.

Lot's of things in store the next few weeks as well. This weekend is my sister's bachelorette party. She decided to forgo the bar scene which this weekend is probably a smart choice since it's fake patty's day here. We will just be doing games and fun things at my casa! Next weekend we will hang out in Manhattan and enjoy St Patty's day (pending decent weather). We are heading to Disney on ice the last weekend of the month which should be a lot of fun, last year we had a blast and I know Chase will enjoy it even more this year. Then it's my sister's wedding! I very busy month ahead and hopefully some warmer weather to go along with it. Not to mention I have a few friends birthday's coming up and my mom's as well!

We are looking forward to spring and being able to do things to the outside of our house. We want to get somethings planted and stain our fence and just be able to enjoy the outdoors again.

I'll do a seperate post to update you on my little stud as he is always saying something funny and entertaining. Feels good to be back!

Yummy Pie Pops!

2011-03-11T21:11:00.000-06:00

I made some lovely pie pops last night to take to a function this evening. I got this idea for Our Best Bites and they just looked too cute not to make. I decided to make heart shaped pops, some with cherry filling and some with apple filling. I glazed about half of them and just sprinkled sugar on the other half. They turned out very cute and they taste super yummy! I displayed these lovely treats but taking a flower container, putting some foam in it and covering the foam with M&M's and then poking all the little pie pops into the foam. Although these were a little time consuming to make they were super easy and I love the finished product! I'm sure your mouth is watering just looking at these pictures now!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-13T18:59:00.000-06:00

Snow Day!

2011-02-13T18:47:00.000-06:00

I was really excited on Monday when I learned that I would get a snow day! I haven't got a snow day since I was in school and even then I worked at Wal-Mart and had to go in, so it's been a number of years! I decided I would make the most of it, try some new recipes and spend the day with my little man.

I woke up feeling some what guilty as I looked outside and realized that it really wasn't doing anything but I quickly changed my mind when I had a quite house, a cup of hot cocoa and the Today show all by myself if only for 30 minutes :) Jeremy had to work the road that afternoon so he would only be home the morning with us, so we made the best of it. When they woke up, I made banana pancakes for breakfast, can you say yummy! These were absolutely delicious! I found this recipe in a magazine I had lying around.

After breakfast we just hung out in our sweats, read books and didn't do much of anything for a few hours. I had told Chase the night before that we would make cookies that day so I opened my taste of home magazine and decided to try my hand at making chocolate whoppie pies! Although Chase was more of a hindrance than a help we had fun and that's what matters! These little delights took a little while to complete but were super yummy when they were done. For lunch we made buffalo chicken sandwiches, a throw together meal my mother came up with a week or so ago and told us about, and they did not disappoint either, in fact we had them again last night for dinner!

Jeremy left for work about the time Chase went down for a nap, so I settled in with the talk shows and my book and totally enjoyed the utter silence. After nap time Chase was full of energy and I realized why I'm not a stay at home mom! I love being around my little guy, but staying home all day is not for me:) We took the afternoon to take Chase's picture to put on Valentine cards and read I believe 12 books before it was time for dinner. I think he purposefully tested my patience all day with potty training, he was doing so well and then on Tuesday it's like every time I took him he had already gone, or said he didn't have to go! Sooo frustrating! I think we are back on track now, I'm so ready to be done with pull-ups!

Yesterday Jeremy was off all day for another snow day, but I had to venture back out to work. When I got home that night Jeremy and Chase had cleaned the house, and all was well in my house. We were all ready to get back to work today and I think Chase was really ready to get back to his friends today to play. Only 2 work days and then the weekend!

Happy Winter everyone!

I have to pee!

2011-01-30T11:43:00.000-06:00

That seems to be what we hear about 30 times a day. Atleast he's getting there but sometimes I swear he's just messing with us! If only we could convince him to go #2 in the potty life would be grand. He did it one time when we caught him but usually goes and hides somewhere and then comes to find us to change his diaper when he's done. Little stinker! He know's he is suppose to go in the potty and tells us all the time "no pee and poop in underwear, go in toliet". He can go almost all day without wetting his pull-up, the only time he does is when he gets to busy playing. Last week we went to Ft. Leonard Wood to visit friends and he stayed dry until we reached Columbia and stopped I was shocked!

He is so smart these days, Jeremy and I always say he has to be smarter than we were at that age. He sings his ABC's, counts to 14, talks in full sentences and just sounds so grown up sometimes it's scary, the other day I went to wake him up to go to daycare by opening his door with the hall light on and he told me to close the door! (If this is any indication what he will be like as a teenager I'm in trouble). I was picking on Jeremy the other night and Chase held his finger up to me and said "you be nice to my daddy", he is quite sassy. He has been sleeping in his toddler bed since right after Christmas and has done awesome in it. He's only come into our room a couple times, but goes right back to bed when you tell him to.

He was so spoiled at Christmas and got so many new toys it was hard to find room for them in the house. Chase is by far a huge book worm, we have to read atlease 2-3 books before he will go to bed, I think I have some of them memorized! I just can't believe that in a few short months I will have a 2 1/2 year old it seems like just yesterday I brought him home. He loves Mickey Mouse, Thomas the Train, and Toy Story and I can't wait to see him when we take him to Disney on Ice in March. My sister's wedding is fast approaching and and we had him fitted for his tux the other day, he will look so cute!

In other news, our life is pretty boring. We were able to go visit friends in MO this weekend and had a great time! We love the Bridgham's and miss them very much! The kids had a blast and so did the adults as we celebrated Tom's 25th b-day in style! Jeremy works a lot and is really proud of his platoon and how well they are doing. We have finally found our routine here and feel as if life isn't quite as chaotic as it was before. I'm very tired of the snow and winter weather already and can't wait for spring and summer to arrive. We have an exciting spring and summer coming up, with my sister getting married in April, The Coffey's coming to visit in May, then we are hoping for some little trips to the Omaha zoo, and Jeremy and I really want to make it to Chicago this year for our anniversary. Jeremy also has his 10 year class reunion that is suppose to be this summer, so a trip to NY will be in order for that! Lot's of plans and hopefully lots of fun!

Sorry this post has been so long, but I hadn't written in forever! Enjoy the pictures of our not so little man!

All I want for Christmas Is...........

2010-12-14T11:20:00.000-06:00

A SANDWICH! That is Chase's response when someone asks what he wants for Christmas. I have no idea where he got this from. We were standing in line to Santa over the weekend and as we got close I asked him what he wanted Santa to bring him he without hesitation "a sandwich" I tried to ask him what toys he wanted and after saying buzz one time he quickly went back to wanting a sandwich. If you ask him what kind he will tell you peanut butter. Now I need to try and find a play peanut butter sandwich so Santa can bring him exactly what he asked for.

I love that he kind of knows what's going on this year and loves the lights, tree, and presents. I haven't put any presents under our tree this year for fear he'll just want to unwrap them right there and then. My parent's have a train around their tree and he could sit and stare and that thing for hours. He makes me very excited for Christmas morning as this will be the first year he really understands what's going on. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

(pictures to soon follow)

Preview of Christmas card #1

2010-12-01T13:05:00.000-06:00

Wonder Trees Noir Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly.com for elegant Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

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It's Christmas card time!

2010-11-12T13:02:00.000-06:00

Trying to decide on a Christmas card every year is always quite the dilemma for me. There are so many choices, price ranges, and sizes to choose from and then deciding a picture to put on them makes me want to go crazy. For the last couple years I have used Shutterfly for my Christmas cards and will continue to do so. I order all my prints from them, birthday thank you cards, and photo gifts. They have promotions going on all the time including free shipping, a % off, and free products! They have so many designs to choose from, and they ship right to your door or they will even send them out for you, you can't beat that!

Some of my contenders this year are.....

the monogrammed look

the bright and cheery

the collage

To all my blogger friends Shutterfly is also doing a promotion just for blogger for 50 free cards check it out here. Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Things I'm lovin!

2010-11-04T10:04:00.000-05:00

My first things I'm loving this week is the cupcake pen! I had bought this a few months back at HomeGoods thinking it might be handy to use, and boy was I right. Last week when making cupcakes for Chase's brithday party I remembered I had this little tool and broke it out for the first time. It was so easy to use and made every cupcake equal proportions, and it was also very easy to clean! So if you like cupcakes but hate the mess of trying to get them all the same size in each cup I would encourage you to find one of these!

Sticking with my cupcake theme, I am also in love with my cupcake courier. My good friend Stacey in MO had one of these and I just knew I had to have one. I had looked on Amazon and debated for quite a while on whether or not to order one and decided to just wait with the move coming up, then one day as I was walking around Dillards with my mom I saw them! Not only where they at Dillards which meant no shipping they were also 25% off, so I put this on my birthday wish list and I did recieve it from my lovely momma! It fits 36 decorated cupcakes perfectly, it is easy to carry, and they stay very moist!

I LOVE my 2 year old! He is crazy, intelligent, cute, loving, and I monster all at once and I wouldn't want him any other way!

Things I'm lovin

2010-10-29T09:06:00.000-05:00

This week has been so crazy I can hardly think of things I'm lovin but here are a few that came to mind!

I love Sam's Club! As goofy as that may sound, I love that you can get soo much at the place for so little! I have been there probably 3 times in the last month and always end up with something. We usually stock up on frozen chicken breast, canned chicken, snacks, and even produce. With Chase's birthday party coming up on Saturday we stocked up on hot dogs and chips for the party and also found some good Christmas deals! I share a membership with my mom and honestly for the price you can't beat going there!

My favorite Tupperware product this week is the Stack Cooker! You can make a cake in the microwave in 7 minutes!!! (That's my kind of cooking) I mad a pumpkin spice cake last night in it and have made multiple angle food cakes. You can also make main dishes such as chicken and rice, mashed potatoes, the list goes on. It's amazing to me how you can make a cake so fast and have it taste like it's fresh out of the oven and be so moist! I would highly recommend this!

Puppy Chow! I can not get enough of this stuff! I bought a big bag of this stuff at Sam's about 3 weeks ago and my family devoured it, so we are on our second big bag! It's my new night time snack! The perfect combination of peanut butter, chocolate, and powdered sugar! I LOVE IT!

I would post a picture and tell you how much I love the men in my life, but my laptop is down which means no picture uploading and I think you all know how much I love them anyway! Like I said my list is pretty boring this week but I promise to do better next week!

The big 2!!!

2010-10-29T09:02:00.000-05:00

I can't believe Chase is 2 years old, seems like just yesterday we were preparing to have a baby and bringing him home from the hospital. Chase made his grand entrance at 5:05pm on 10/29/08! Chase has lived up to his name well, as he is constantly on the go. It is amazing to me how much he has changed in the last year.

Here are just some of the things Chase is doing now:

He can say his name although it comes out Chase Weee Go instead of Legault

He can tell you he's going to be 2

He counts to 10 without missing numbers most of the time

He sings itsy bitsy, no more monkey's jumping on the bed, twinkle twinkle, Happy Birthday and many more

He can carry on a pretty good conversation with you now

He tells us to put our seat belts on in the car and turn the TV off when leaving a room

He loves picking out his own clothes and it usually involves a "futebol" shirt (KSU shirt)

He loves watching football and makes a lot of sound affects while doing so

He can jump with both feet now

Loves giving kisses and hugs

Says Please, thank you, bless you, sorry, and excuse me when appropriate without being asked

His favorite food is Pizza and I think he would eat it for every meal if you let him

He is very picky about his socks and clothes and how they feel and tags have to be taken out of everything he wears
He tells you if he wants juice, milk, cartoons, which cup he wants, and is pretty bossy
He loves shutting off the lights and helping push the button to close the garage
He likes having is own space and gets upset if someone else is always right next to him

He loves his granny, and papa as well as Aunt Tiffy, and Kywol

This little guys has completely stole our hearts and we can not imagine our lives without him. He is the only one that can make me laugh and want to pull my hair out in the same minute! He has a attitude all of his own and has to do everything himself. The last 2 years of our lives have been the most challenging and the most rewarding and we wouldn't change a thing. We love you Chasers! Happy 2nd Birthday!

(I will update you later with pictures as our laptop crashed and I can't find my card reader:( )

1st Things I'm lovin post!

2010-10-17T20:59:00.000-05:00

I got this idea from a very creative blogger, you can check Amber out here. I thought this was a very neat way to let everyone know your favorite things from week to week, and I'm excited to try it out, so let me get started!

I love Chase's birthday invites! Another talented blogger made his invites last year, as well as our moving cards, and I couldn't think of any other person I would rather have make his invites this year! I just tell her the details of the party and the theme and she takes it from there. I met her while living in MO through a fellow nurse and can't get enough of how extremely talented she is! If you ever need any kind of card or invitation I would highly recommend her!

I thought since I recently embarqued on the journey of selling Tupperware it would only be fitting if I showcase one of my favorite Tupperware products! This week it is the quick chef, I have made salsa in about 2 minutes in this little gadget as well as my favorite thing ice cream in about 90 seconds. All you need is cream, sugar, vanilla and whatever frozen berry you choose and in a few turns you have fresh semi-healthy ice cream! Best part it's on sale this week for almost 1/2 off!

If you like Peanut Butter you have got to try this one! Peter Pan Honey Roast creamy peanut butter is to die for! I had never tried it until I started working in the Occ Health office and everyone working in there is a peanut butter eating fool! I LOVE this PB and will never eat another kind again. I eat it on bananas, and apples all the time!

And most of all I LOVE this little man, he stole my heart almost 2 years ago and I wouldn't trade him for the world!

Picture update finally!

2010-10-10T19:14:00.000-05:00

I am finally getting around to posting pictures. We have had a great fall so far, busy but fun. Today we drove about an hour to visit a pumpkin patch in Burns, KS. I know there are a lot of little pumpkin patches around here but this one just looked like so much fun and what else did we have to do on a Sunday. We did have a lot of fun and I look forward to visiting again next year when Chase can do a lot more things. We left right as it was starting to rain so we didn't get too wet. Chase's favorite part was of course the hay rack ride since it involved a tractor! Well hope you enjoy the pictures!

Chase and his "pack pack" at Sesame Street Live

Uncle Alex and Chase

Daddy and Chase at the KSU game

Go Cats!

Clouds at the game before the storm

Almost 2!

Before the MP ball

Chase and his new bike

Pumpkin Patch

I can't believe last year her could barely walk at this time

Busy, Busy

2010-10-03T19:37:00.000-05:00

That has been our life lately! I have really struggled the last couple of weeks, feeling like a good mom and wife. Since moving we really haven't got into a routine yet. In Missouri I made dinner almost every night, even on the nights I worked. Since I only worked M-W I had all day Thursday and Friday to get any housework, grocery shopping or play dates done and then we had the whole weekend as a family. Here it has been totally different!! I expected Jeremy to work less hours here then he did in Missouri and while he has every weekend off his hours everyday are the same if not worse than they were when we lived in MO. I have been putting in a lot of overtime with flu shot clinic's needing to be done and worked 92 hours in 2 weeks. This has meant that I leave the house about 7 every morning drop Chase off and don't usually see him again to pick him up until around 6, by the time we get home scramble to find something for dinner and get bath time done we only have about an hour until bedtime. I feel like I don't get to spend any time with him at all between having to get all the other daily things done. Dinner has been lacking as well, after working all day and not getting home until 6 or better I am in no mood to make something big that will take a while so fast and easy is what we get. I love having the extra money from working full time which allows us to do more things on the weekends but struggle trying to find a routine! I try to plan fun things to do on the weekends so we can get the most out of them but they come and go so quick! Sorry I'm rambling but I'm just having a hard time this week!

On a brighter note Chase is growing up so fast! He will be 2 in exactly 1 month!! He talks all the time from the time he wakes up until he goes to sleep! He loves pointing out the big trucks going down the road, and the airplanes and choo choo trains! He is getting to be quite the bossy little man, and going out to eat has become more of an adventure since that is usually when he decides to have a melt down. We struggled with bedtime for a long time after moving here but after sticking with letting him cry it out we are over that hump and can put him down without a peep! We tell him we love him every night before bed and he will respond back with "I wuv you more" it is so cute! My favorite thing he says and I try to get him to say it all the time because it makes me smile is when he is doing something like building a tower he will finish and say "nook it mommy" He loves going to daycare and playing with the 2 other little boys his same age and doesn't bat an eye when we leave! My dad has been picking him up from daycare lately since he gets off earlier than we do and he loves hanging out with papa! It's hard to believe he is already almost 2!!

Jeremy found out last week that he will be deploying sometime next December so the debate of whether to have another baby is really starting. Next December seems far away but if he wants to be here for another baby it's not that long at all! We will see what happens here, part of me wants another one soon so they aren't too far apart and another part of me doesn't think I can handle working full time with a 3 year old and a newborn while my husband is gone for a year? My mom raised us two girls by herself a lot as my dad was deployed but she is a stronger person than me and I just have a lot of doubt especially after this last week!

Well that is about all on us for the moment. We are loving being back in KS and have already attended 2 KSU football games, taken Chase to sesame street live and attended a few craft shows. I am not ready for the winter yet though, although I love fall I am not a fan of winter!!

Pics will follow soon! It's been a little bit of a rough weekend!

Goodbye old friend...

2010-10-03T07:26:00.000-05:00

We brought you home with us Christmas Eve 1998 a fluffy white ball who did not want to stay in his box, we should have known then you would be spoiled rotten. We debated on names for hours, mom wanted to name you peanuts but we finally settled on Frosty. I was a freshman in high school that year and we had to fight to keep you living with us as the place where we lived did not want you there. You were there for every graduation, my wedding and the birth of my first child. You loved going on walks, eating, and you were always up to something!

Even though you had bad eyes you always managed to be into something. You were the master at steeling socks and begging for food. You were grumpy at times, but we loved you all the same. Abby and Ginger will miss you so much! We will forever miss you Frosty our first pet! We love you and hope you are comfortable now. May your memory always make us smile and our stories of you last a lifetime!

Wow it's been awhile

2010-09-09T21:29:00.000-05:00

We have been very busy this last month, so here are a few updates on us. Jeremy just went back to work last week after having 3 weeks off to get things put together in our house. He took over as the platoon Sgt for 3rd platoon in the 300th MP company ( this was the exact platoon he was in last time only as a squad leader). He is really enjoying the new job but still trying to figure everything out.

I started my new job the first of August working full time as the occupational health nurse in JC and I really like it. It's a lot different than anything I've done before but it's going well and everyone has been really welcoming. I have also started a new adventure this month of selling Tupperware (as if I don't have enough to do) I'm really excited about this and just want to do it for fun, so if you ever need any Tupperware or want to earn some free stuff and host a party please contact me!

Chase started going to daycare full time a week before I started working just so they could get used to each other, and as expected he has fit in well and loves going to Max's to play. Chase will be 2 in a little over a month and that's hard to believe. He loves to sing and dance and is very into fire trucks and choo choo trains right now. He eats whatever we make for the most part but definitely has his daddies sweet tooth. He enjoys spending time with granny and he is papa's buddy for sure! We have been enjoying family time and planning lots of activities. We are taking Chase to see Seasame street live this weekend and then a K-State football game in a few weeks.

We finally have furniture in our house thank the lord we no longer have to sit on folding chairs! Jeremy seeded our front yard a couple weeks ago and have been faithfully watering and the grass has really shot up. Our fence in finished in the back yard, so I'm sure we will be seeding back there in the next few weeks. Pictures are hung up and every box is pretty much unpacked. I finally feel like we live here!

Well it's been a crazy few month's but we are slowing down just in time for fall and winter to set in! Hope everyone has a great fall!

Goodbye MO

2010-07-22T11:39:00.000-05:00

The time has come! It's hard to believe that we have lived in Missouri for 2 years now and it's time to move on. I remember when I first moved here, I knew no one, it was cold out and I had a newborn, Jeremy worked all the time and I hated it! Now almost 2 years later we have met some amazing people that we call friends and have made memories to last a lifetime!

We are excited to start our lives in KS again and look forward to living in our very own house, but it is bittersweet for us. This was the first place we lived as a family of 3, Chase took his first steps here, said his first words here and made his first friends here, it was my first move away from home and I learned a lot about myself, and we have grown in so many ways. Jeremy's job these last two years has tested our strength and marriage many times, but we have made it to the other side. I learned to really cook since being here (before it was always dinner at mom's or something quick) and learned I really enjoy it! I have learned to be ok doing things by myself because waiting for Jeremy to come home isn't always an option, I have learned you have to put yourself out there to make friends sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I had the opportunity to work part time here and spend a lot of time with Chase which I could never be more thankful for! Chase has had the same daycare provider for our entire stay here and we will miss her dearly. She is a wonderful person and we hope we find someone who can come close to her.

I am excited that I will no longer have to drive 6 hours to visit home anymore! I'm excited for the atmosphere of K-State sports weekends again, and shopping trips to Topeka with my mom.

To our friends that we have made here, you will always have a special place in our hearts and we will look back on these years and our time here often. To the Bridgham's and Nofziger's we will miss our weekend cook outs and the kids playing together. Kaitlyn I will miss our pizza dates and trips to the Lake! To the girls at the dermatology center you gave me a great place to work for 1.5 years and I will never forget you!

So ta-ta for now MO and hello KS! Who know's the army may bring us back here one day!

Our house in MO

Chase and Tate

Chase, Grace and Russell

BBQ in the backyard!

Home sweet home!

2010-07-05T19:00:00.000-05:00

We are officially home owners! Hard to believe. I went back to KS last Wednesday and on Thursday did the final walk through and closed that afternoon. It was a little stressful since Jeremy couldn't come with me and I had to do everything by power of attorney but with the exception of a few glitches it went smoothly. We won't be living there until the end of the month since Jeremy doesn't finish here until then but we are going to go back in two weeks to stain the railings and back porch and paint the garage.

I also had a job interview Friday while I was there for the occupational health nurse at Geary Community Hospital. They said I would hear something by the middle of the upcoming week and it sounded promising so here's to hoping. It's bittersweet for me, it will be nice to have the full time income again but I will miss being home with Chase 4 days a week. This job would be M-F 8-5 with holiday's off so the hours would be perfect. My mom went with me to meet a new daycare provider for Chase. She was very nice and I think he will love it there, but we love Connie and will miss her so much it's hard to imagine anyone as good as her.

Our Home
Back yard

Standing in our closet it's huge!

Family Reunion

Wilson Family Reunion

2010-07-05T18:09:00.000-05:00

This weekend we went to Brunswick, MO where my grandparents live for my maternal grandma's family reunion. There hasn't been a family reunion since my great grandpa died in 1985 he was the glue that held everyone together and when he died everyone went the seperate ways. It was a good turn out only 3 of the 6 kids are left including my grandma, her sister Erma and her brother Bob. There were multiple children of living and deceased and trying to know who everyone was got interesting. The reunion was held on my great uncle Bob's farm which is only down the road from where my great grandparent's lived all those years ago and where all those family reunions where held. Hopefully they will make this a annual event so we don't loose track of everyone again. My grandma's family

Chase and 1 of many cupcakes

Kyle and Chase or "Ky" as Chase calls him

Chase on the harley End result from a day of festivities

4th of July

2010-07-05T18:01:00.000-05:00

We celebrated the 4th of July with our friends the Bridgham's and had a blase grilling and setting off fireworks at their house. Chase loves Grace and Rusty as he calls him and we sure are going to miss the crazy Bridgham's when we move. It was perfect weather and very low key but an absolute blast.

Chase looking down the street

Trying to mow the hill

The kiddos

Grace has the boys in a headlock

Happy 4th of July

House Update!

2010-06-13T18:26:00.000-05:00

They finised painting our house this past week except for maybe some touch ups. They should be laying flooring and installing cabinets in the next week. We are going to go home 2 weeks from now to do a walk through and then 4 days after that I will drive home again to close. Jeremy won't be able to go back to close since he will be in school so I will have to do that alone. We are ready to get out of Missouri and move into our new house. We have made great friends here that we will really miss but it's time to go! We will have plenty of room for them to come visit!

Standing in the living room
Master bedroom

Front of house

Our big boy!

2010-06-08T19:30:00.000-05:00

Chase is getting so big I can't believe the new things he does everyday. He talks in full sentences and you can pretty much understand everything he says. Most importantly he is peeing in the potty. I never thought he would be going potty in the big potty already but after being around all the big kids at daycare and having some of his friends over who are potty trained he will come up to you and say " I potty". He stays pretty dry all day except nap time and bedtime and hasn't quite learned the concept of going poo poo in the potty but atleast we are getting somewhere. Maybe potty training him won't be so bad after all. We have been going to the pool a lot lately and he loves playing in the water! I think he might very well have my complexion too seeing his little tan lines.

Chase at the park

Sleeping in his swing

Loving the pool

The slide at the pool

Our house is coming along nicely and should be done by our closing the first of July. We are very excited to see the finished product. I am still trying to find a job back home which is proving to be more difficult than I thought! So if you hear of any please let me know. Well I hope everyone is enjoying summer I know we are!

Looking good!

2010-05-19T18:49:00.000-05:00

Our house that is. Here are a few pictures of our house, the realtor and my parents are nice enough to take pictures and keep us updated on the progress. I will be going back home sometime soon to pick out all the interior things. It will be here before we know it!

New house!

2010-05-12T18:55:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to update everyone and let you know that we went back to KS this past weekend house hunting. After some initial disappointment and frustration we met with a second realtor who showed us some floor plans for houses just being built. She took us to the lots and showed us another house that builder had built. We thought about it over the weekend and decided to put an offer in. Our offer was accepted and we will close July 1st! We are very excited to have our own house and be able to decorate it.

I thought that picking out paint colors and flooring would be fun but the more I look at the stuff the more confused and indecisive I get about what to pick and we've only started looking at exterior paint. Who knew there were so many options? We will keep you updated on the progress of our house!

Easter Fun

2010-04-04T17:30:00.001-05:00

Chase has really enjoyed Easter this year. On Friday some friends of ours Grace, Russell and Kaitlyn came over to decorate cookies and eggs and the kids had a lot of fun. I think Chase ate more icing than anything else but it really kept him entertained.

On Saturday morning I took Chase to the post wide egg hunt that was broken down by age groups. Chase was in the 0-1 age group so getting eggs was pretty easy. He had a blast picking up all the eggs and putting them in his bucket he had well over 30 eggs at the end. The weater was perfect although it had rained the night before and was a little muddy the sun was shining and it was 60 degrees. Aunt Tiffany came and helped us as Jeremy was "working" he had to compete in a swimming competition that day.

Chase had a lot of fun looking through his Easter basket this morning. His favorite thing has to be his egg shaped magnadoodle. He also got a toddler dancing cd and a few cars along with some goldfish and candy.

Jeremy graduates his last basic training class next week and then life will change again as he will have weekends off again and more time at home. We are taking advantage of some of that time this month to go see our good friends the Coffey's in GA. We are very excited to see them all of us haven't hung out since before we both moved almost 2 years ago! We will keep you posted on life with out basic training!

Hunting eggs with Tiffy

Our eggs

Cookie decorating Finding his basket

Haircut and Disney live!

2010-03-12T09:40:00.000-06:00

Yesterday my sister and I took Chase to Springfield to see Disney playhouse live. While we were there we also got his second haircut. He did great with the haircut until she knicked his ear and then it was down hill from there. He had a great time as disney live and was pretty good the whole time except while waiting for it to start and during intermission. It didn't start until 6:30 so needless to say he was pretty pooped by the end and slept all the way home.

Chase's favortie word in no and he uses it countless times a day. He is really testing our patience with his new attitude and I'm hoping it will get better and not worse the close he gets to 2! He does talk all the time and will point towards the door and say "pay" and "cide" which means slide. He will tell you he wants juice, milk, or cookie. He will tell you he wants down, or done when he's done eating. He can point to say "boon" (balloon). He has a routine with daddy every night. When Jeremy gets home from work he runs up to him and goes into our room and stands on the cedar chest and waits for Jeremy to sit down there and take off his boots. It's very cute and he get's upset if daddy doesn't come in there to follow him.

Tomorrow we are taking Chase to disney on ice in St. Louis and I'm sure he will love it!

Measuring up!

2010-02-27T09:38:00.000-06:00

Chase had his 15 month appt this last week although it was a little late and he is now 16 months. This is how he measured up

Weight- 23.8lb 23rd percentile

Height- 33in 78th percentile

Head- can't remember but he was the 95th percentile

What can I say our kid has a big head. He got 3 shots this week and was a trooper only cried while they gave them and even told the nurse bye when we left. He is done with shots now until he is 4! He also had his parents as teachers denver assessment test and he is measuring developmentally as a 22 month old. Chase is a lot like his mommy when it comes to talking, he never shuts up! He is so much fun though and we are looking forward to a summer of fun activities!

Moo!

2010-02-17T19:22:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a happy Valentines Day! Chase and I were on the road on our way back from KS and Jeremy worked all day. Our Valentine celebration consisted of Wendy's for dinner (can you tell we are getting old).

Chase playing with the Dog's cone collar

Chase in his rocking chair

Chase will be 16 months old next week and he has changed so much. He talks all the time and you can make out most of what he says. He can tell you what a lion, and cow and a fish says (he smacks his lips), he know blue, red and yellow and can point to them when asked. He follows simple comands very well (like go to the bath or get a book), and has almost mastered eating with utensils. He tells me NO all the time which absolutely drives me crazy! We are so looking forward to the warmer weather so we can get outside and play. Chase hates being cooped up inside but it's just been to cold and slick to do anything outside. He loves sitting in his rocking chair made for just his size and will sit and rock while watching cartoons. Chase and I are going to go to disney on ice in St. Louis on March 13th and I think that he will love it!

Chase on his nap mat grandma made

Here's to hoping spring finds us soon!

Tina

Packing for grandma's

Playing at daddies work

15 months and 1 more cycle!

2010-01-29T11:41:00.000-06:00

I will start my saying that Chase is 15 months old today! I can't believe it. There is so much that he does now I'm not sure where to start. Talking: He says piggy, ducky, hi, bye, cookie, thank you, please, papa, dadda, momma, ball, book, I could go on and on it's amazing to be how much he talks now. He makes a fish face when you ask him what a fish says, he tells me no and mine now (I'm not to excited about this). He can point to a pig, duck, horse, dog and cow when asked.

He eats all the time! I'm not looking forward to the grocery bill in his teenage years, it's bad now! We got rid of the pacifier right after the new year, and he didn't even notice it was missing. I thought it was going to be a lot harder. His favorite toys, are his books, his horse, balls, and his fridge farm, carwash, and phonics. He still amazes me everyday how big he's getting and how much he learns. He's easy going most of the time but can have quite a temper on him when he wants something.

Ok now for a little venting: I am so sick of Jeremy's job! Jeremy has been gone for almost a month and was suppose to have a week off before he picks up another set of troops. I had changed all my appointments to go home the next weekend so I could spend time with him, and arranged a babysitter so that he and I could go do something next Sat just the two us. Well what do you know now he picks up a new set of troops next Friday therefore ruining all of our plans for next weekend. I'm so sick of this crap! Good thing this is the last one we have to do! Sorry for the vent!

Moving, moving, moving!

2010-01-26T12:50:00.000-06:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we got our orders for our next duty station. We will be going back to KS (Ft. Riley), we have to be there by Sept. 10th. Of course I'm thrilled to be going back home and being around family and friends, Jeremy is happy to be buying a house this time and not working so much! It's still a little ways away but we are looking forward to buying a house this time as well as being able to enjoy our summer before we move since Jeremy will be in school and not instructing! We will keep everyone up to date on our house hunting adventures once they start! Until next time!
The Legault's

10 things in 2010

2010-01-22T12:13:00.000-06:00

I won't call them resolutions since those often fail, I will just call them goals that I hope to accomplish this year! Little things that I just want to do better at keeping up with and doing, we will see how it goes!

1. Eat healthier and move more: I don't really need to loose any weight, I weigh what I did before I was pregnant but I would like to tone up more! Since Jeremy is always and work and I always have Chase I have let that become to convenient of an accuse not to work out!

2. Be a better blogger!

3. Plan out weekly meals and stick to the meals I plan: We always struggle with what to have for dinner and seem to always get stuck in a rut so my goal is to plan out things in advance so we have all the ingredients and I can lay out what I need before work so I have no reason not to cook and just throw something together!

4. Keep in touch with friends better: As I become involved in the everyday happenings of life, I often forget how long it's been since I've spoken to someone, I vow to be better a keeping up!

5. Be more understanding of Jeremy's work schedule: This is a huge frustration for the the both of us. Jeremy can not control the amount of hours he works but I get really upset after about 5 weeks of only seeing him for an 1 or 2 every night before he falls right to sleep! I will try to be more understanding and hope that he will also try harder at staying awake when he is home to have some much needed quality time together!

6. Christmas shop early this year: I know Christmas just got over, but the stress of shopping and getting every thing done gets me every year and I don't enjoy the holidays like I should, so this year I hope to have things done early and really enjoy the season!

7. Use the video camera more: We have a great video camera but always forget to use it, I really want to capture the funny things Chase is doing now before we miss them for good.

8. Scrapbook: I love to do this but my space and time limitations make it extremely difficult, hopefully with Jeremy having more time at home this upcoming year I will be able to get a little more done.

9. Take time to enjoy the little things: Too often I get caught up in what I need to do next, laundry, picking up the toys, dishes that I forget to just stop and play for a while because those are the things Chase will remember when he's older not that he had a perfectly cleaned house.

10. Save more: Find ways to save more lowering bills, putting more away not buying a bunch of stuff we don't and won't use!

These are my goals I'll evaluate and the end of the year and let you know how I did! Hope everyone has a great 2010!

Trip to NY

2010-01-22T11:58:00.000-06:00

Chase made his first trip to NY after Christmas. He hadn't yet met a lot of the Legault family, since we live so far away and Jeremy is always working so this was a great opportunity. Jeremy was a little nervous about how Chase would do on the plane since we had to lay over and flight time was about 4 hours total, then to top it off it's about another 4 hour drive from the airport to Jeremy's home town. Chase however did great, slept both flight and the drive to and from the airport!

While in NY we did a lot of visiting, Chase loved all of the attention! He learned really quickly to say cookie and he would get one from grandma. He got to sit on a horse that was his cousin Nick's and fed the donkeys carrots with his great aunt Barb. He cried when we took him off the horse!

We were there about a week, had a great time but of course time went to quickly and we wish we could have spent more time with everyone. Jeremy is getting ready to start up his last full cycle as a drill sgt., I can't wait for it to be over! Hopefully that will clear up so time and we can travel together a little more!

Chrismas and New boots!

2010-01-15T22:25:00.000-06:00

We celebrated the first part of our Christmas at my grandma's house in northern MO. We had a great time spending time with family eating, opening gifts and our family tradition of playing uno! Chase was spoiled rotten and got more stuff than I know what to do with! By far his favorite toys are his power wheels 4-wheeler, his guitar, and his vacume.

He also got a pair of snow boots that look like bears we got them here he loves these boots! If I do say so myself they are pretty darn cute, easy to put on and super warm. He gets compliments everywhere we go on these boots! He learned a lot over Christmas and has started talking a lot more! His favorite word is cookie because he knows if he says that to grandma or grandpa they will give him one, he says car but it sounds more like caaa which is hilarious to listen to he sounds like he's from a north eastern state!

From baby to boy!

2010-01-15T22:05:00.000-06:00

Chase had his first haircut while we were in NY. Jeremy's aunt Sue is a hair stylist and so we waited to have Chase's haircut so she could be the first one to do it. Chase did awesome didn't move didn't cry (of course we let him eat a cookie while having it done) I think it was harder on me than it was him! I almost cried seeing those little curls come off, the ones that have been there since the day he was born, Chase looks a lot like his daddy and the curls were the one thing that he got from me, now they are gone :( He looks like such a little boy now and not a baby, I can't believe he's almost 15 months!

Out of order!

2009-12-29T07:59:00.000-06:00

I so wish I could upload pictures of our Christmas adventures and our trip to NY but our laptop is in the hospital getting a new mother board and our desk top is ancient and won't upload pics. So I'll just have to wait about another week before I can post of upload any pics. Hope to be back soon!

Mr. Personality

2009-11-22T18:55:00.000-06:00

Chase is Mr. Personality. He is constantly doing something to make you laugh or say no-no! He is a big climber and has a thing with fitting in small places, he will crawl behind the entertainment center, sit in the dog toy basket, and tip over his rocking horse to fit between the seat and the rockers. He gets very frustrated quickly if something isn't going like he thinks it should but if you give him enough time he'll figure it out himself.

We set up the Christmas tree this weekend, and he's done pretty good with leaving it alone. We didn't put any ornaments on the bottom half for that reason. He knows how to give hugs now, he can show you where is belly, toes, nose, and ears are. His ball popper, T-ball, and tow mater are his favorite toys although he destroys my living room daily with dragging out all his toys.

Chase does not like eggs, green beans, hot dogs or having his diaper changed. He loves bath time, eating, his blue blankie, all fruits and most veggies. We just can't believe how grown up he now is and the new things he does every day. Hope you enjoy the new pictures!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Go Chiefs!
Hugging baby Russell

Got his snacks out of his diaper bag and ate them all

First time seeing the tree

Bath time

Fell asleep at dinner

Dog toy basket he loves!

A little monkey business

2009-11-08T19:12:00.000-06:00

Wow we have had 2 birthday parties in a 1 week span and we are exhausted! We had a jungle themed party for him both, it turned out super cute if I do say so myself! His party last week was back home in KS with family and family friends and today we had party in MO with all of our friends here. Chase got a alot of cute toys and he also got a dvd player for the car from grandma and grandpa which he watched all the way home. He had a great time at both parties but was very tired and cranky afterwards from no nap!

We also celebrated a halloween when we were back in KS. Chase was a frog and he was mighty cute (although I may be partial). We only took him trick or treating around the block since we or him needed the candy.

We also had his 1 year and family pictures taken this week, you can view them and http://www.smilestonesphotography.com/ under recent events.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Chase on his Birthday at home

Candy Bars at Chase's party

Opening his card

Halloween Frog

Monkey cake I made

To my Birthday Boy!

2009-10-25T14:27:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Chase! I can't believe a year has already came and gone! It seems like just yesterday we were preparing for you arrival and thought it would never come, now you are a walking, talking, little Mr. Attitude and we wouldn't have it any other way! We are so proud to be your parents, you make me laugh and want to scream every day. You are so incredibly smart and amaze me everyday with the things you pick up and do. You have such and outgoing and funny personality, you'll do anything to try and make us laugh which means your just like your daddy. It makes me sad to think that a year has already come and gone with you and the times of holding you while you sleep are almost gone, pretty soon you won't need me for anything. Our lives have changed so much in the last year. We have learned to have a little more patience as things are usually on your time schedule not ours anymore, we have learned to just let some things go like when you dig out all my pots and pans and my ocd of having a clean house is screaming I just have to look at your face and see how much joy that brings you and that feeling quickly leaves. We've made mistakes and will continue to do so in the years to come but we try everyday to give you a great childhood full of memories to share with your kids some day. We love you more than we could have ever imagined we could! You are the light of our lives and we can't imagine our lives without you! Happy Birthday baby boy!

1st week you were born

1 day old

Just born

Today!

Pumpkin pickin fun!

2009-10-10T20:22:00.001-05:00

We took Chase to a local pumpkin patch today and he loved it! We got to take a hay ride to pick out our own pumpkins, go through a corn maze, and ride a little train. He cried when we took him off the tractor and out of the pumpkins. The look on his face was worth every penny of the $20 we spend on our visit there. Chase will be 1 in less than three weeks and it really makes me sad to think about:( He can brush his hair, can get a book when you tell him, and can say baba, doggie and mama and dada! He knows where his socks go he just can't get them on his feet but he will hold them up there. He amazes us everyday with how smart he is! Enjoy the pics

Wagon ride to pick out a pumpkin
Sitting on tractor

Watch me grow

Riding a the cow train with daddy

My first cake!

2009-09-21T19:03:00.000-05:00

Well I officially decorated my first cake! My goal was to make this cake for my sister's boyfriend Kyle who is coming home from Iraq tomorrow. I didn't know if I could pull it off but I did and I'm very proud. While it isn't perfect by any means it atleast looks like a flag! The other pictures are just some added bonuses of what Chase does while I'm trying to get things done, like climbing in grandma's fridge! I am going to take a cake decorating class starting next month and hope to be able to make Chase a monkey cake for his first birthday!

A night at the drive in and a little walking!

2009-09-14T19:16:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we went to an old fashion drive in movie! Can you believe they still have them around? Where we live here in Missouri there is one about 45 minutes from our house in a little town called Cuba. For $7 you get to see 2 movies (current movies not old ones that everyone has already seen) and if Chase decides to throw a fit it doesn't effect anyone but us! It was fun getting to experience the drive in, something that Chase will probably never know existed.

Also this weekend Chase became a walking fool! He will let go of anything now and walk to where he wants to go, he still falls quite a bit but he's getting there. He has quite the personality and I'm sure he's going to be the class clown. He always has to have your attention no matter what he's doing. He has also figured out how to climb on everything, we are in big trouble now!

Chase at the drive in

Night at the movies

Walking

Chase's new found skill

2009-09-07T13:20:00.000-05:00

Today we are having a lazy labor day at home! Jeremy is cleaning the cars and Chase and I are just hanging out inside, and this is what Chase decided to show me he can now do! God help us we now have a climber!

Chase is 10 months!

2009-08-29T08:14:00.000-05:00

Chase is 10 months old today! This post is just a little mommy bragging! Chase has such a happy personality! He is very interested in everything that is going on around him all the time. Chase can patty-cake and do the roll it, he can wave bye-bye, hold a phone up to his ear, say mamma, dadda and baby. He has become a big mamma's boy lately and has to be where I'm at all the time. He comes into the bathroom and pulls on the shower curtain, sits in the pots and pans if I'm cooking and is always pulling on my pant leg! He eats big people food now and is insulted if you try to feed him baby food! Here are some pictures of Chase and the things he can do! I can't believe he's already 10 months!

The roll it in patty-cake
Patty-cake

Talking on the phone

Sitting in the pans while mommy is baking

My mound of toys

Everyday Life!

2009-08-21T22:55:00.000-05:00

We have spent some much needed time at home lately which has been very nice! My parents and grandma recently came to visit and help us out with daycare for the week since our daycare lady had an emergency to tend to. While they were here we had the chance to go and eat at the only cave resteraunt in all of the US. It’s located in Richland, MO only about 20 miles from where we live and it was very neat to see. You drive to a parking lot and then wait in a building for a van to come and pick you up and take you the the top of this hill where you ride an elevator up into the the cave. It’s about 1200 feet above the Gasconade river and had some very pretty views.
Chase will be 10 months old and the end of next week and he has quite the personality! He has 2 teeth and six barely poking through the gums ready to come in. He crawls every where all the time and can walk if he’s pushing something or has something to hang on to. It won’t be long and he’ll be running every where. He eats all the time and refuses to eat baby food anymore as he likes to now feed himself. He is for the most part and really easy going baby who only really fusses when he’s hungry or tired! We are looking forward to his first birthday party in October!
I hope everyone enjoys the pictures and I hope to get better at updating out blog a little more often! You can also see Chase's 9 month pictures as smilestonesphotography.com under recent events!

My new swing
Very messy lunch

View from the cave

Our family

Inside the cave

Fun in the SUN!

2009-07-13T18:13:00.000-05:00

Chase and I just got back from visiting our friends the Coffey's in GA. We hadn't seen them since December when Chase was only about 6 weeks and they're son Garrett was about 15 months, boy have they changed since then. Jeremy did not get to come with us as he had to work, imagine that, but we had a blast none the less. The added bonus to this trip is that we also got to see our other friends from Ft. Riley Katrina and her son Cade, they drove over from Alabama to see us. Traveling sure is different now with three kids in tow that it ever was before. People looked at us like we were crazy!

This was the first time Chase had been on a plane so I was a little nervous, but he did great. He didn't make a peep the entire time. We went to Brunswick, GA also known as the gateway to the golden isles. Chase went to the beach and ocean, went to Savannah and ate at Paula Deen's restaurant, saw the sea turtles and did lots and lots of walking. Chase loved the beach and it was hard to keep him from eating the sand but he had a ton of fun! Sara and I also took both boys up a light house, that was 129 stairs to climb while holding a kid we were tired!

Well we are pooped and have lots of laundry to do, but I hope you enjoy the new pics.

Independence Day!

2009-07-05T17:16:00.000-05:00

We hope that everyone had a great 4th of July! We were lucky enough to have the chance to go back home and visit family in KS. Jeremy wasn't going to be able to come but at the last minute he was able to so that was a great surprise. We spent the weekend grilling, going to a parade, shooting off fireworks, and just enjoying the great weather. This month has been full of family for us and we loved every minute of it. Tina's family came the second week in June for about 4 days, then Jeremy's family came for a visit the weekend after that. Chase enjoyed the attention from everyone and getting him back into a routine is going to be difficult!

Here are a few pictures from our weekend, and playing with the new camera I got for my birthday!

New to this!

2009-06-27T17:12:00.000-05:00

Hello so we are joining the blog world! After reading several friends blogs and really enjoying keeping up with them through this we have decided to jump on the waggon! We are one year into our time here in Fort Leonard Wood and we are looking forward to finding out where we are going next. Chase is getting big, he will be 8 months old next week! He can crawl wherever he wants now, pull himself up to standing, and smiles all the time. Lately we have taken Chase to the St. Louis zoo, and a baseball game, all of which he loved! Well I hope I can keep up with updating this, and can figure out how to make it look good soon (hint to my fellow bloggers!)

Chase at the zoo!

Cardinals Game

Standing up!

Swimming with mommy