On Turning Three

My Chaseyboy.

Just as cute as they come.

It's more about his little personality than it is his dashing good looks.

There is just some factor this kid has.

I can't ever put my finger on it.

But it always, always makes me smile.

Chase turned 3 just shy of a month ago. We celebrated his big day out at the lake and it could not have been a more perfect weekend.

3 years ago.......things were starting to heat up in my womb. 

3 years ago......He entered and set our hearts on fire all over again. It's amazing how you think you couldn't love anyone more than you do your first...and then along comes the second.

And then, he is born and you are. just. stopped. All over again. {And not just stopped by the people with their hands in your crotch, pulling and snipping and yanking and all the great things we experience right after the birth-because that is just downright embarrasing}.........but I mean like your heart is just stopped. For a moment it becomes frozen/suspended/no movement. And this new little person just jumps right into your still, unable to beat, heart. Is that why they say, be still my heart? I don't know, but sheesh, that is what it was like for me.

You hold him and kiss him.

And you look at him and you are just rocked.

And then you blink your eyes.

And he turns 3.

And because every little child should wake up to balloons on their birthday, you and your mother in law blow up balloons at wee hours of the morning.

And all he wanted for his birthday cake was blue cupcakes. No special characters. No immaculate train scenes. Nope. Just cupcakes. Just blue. {me likey easy}

it was a cupcake eating.

love fest.

And since his big brother got a cool watery,glittery,magical wand for his birthday......clearly, this was top priority for the three year old. i just adore all his faces.

{not to mention, as i was editing this post, i just realized he totally has his hand up his pants!!! ok, so maybe this explains the faces?????}  www.that'ssonotmykidwithishandsinhispants.com

ahem. moving on.

then his dad had a super fun idea to hide his big present.

because our boys are musical.

an acoustic guitar was a cool choice.

how melted is your heart right now? mine is just a slop of a mess at the sight of this picture. a good mess.

ok for real. was this kid born for the stage?

i can see many a girl falling for this little charmer. however, they will need to just fowgetaboutit.......cuz mama's gonna hold the key to his heart until he is done with college. then we can talk ladies. maybe.

happy third birthday little man.

we love you so so so so much! you just don't even know how cool you are. well, actually you do. but you are even cooler than that. you are just sweet and funny and even caring. your little big brother instinct has really kicked in with Beckett. ok......now that's not to say you aren't mighty naughty with him too.....but when you love him. you just love him. and it's fun to watch. you and leighton are just side kicks. you have your share of fights but really mostly, you two just jive together. you have spent a good portion of your 3rd summer in the sandbox with him. he looks out for you very well. he really loves you. it's pretty impossible to do anything less than love you.

and your orange boots! i can't find a picture at the moment but i am sure i have many. you have been wearing those orange boots since february. you love those things! you look so cute in them. you wore them through rain,sleet,snow and hot hot hot heat. they are just you. i'm sure they are way to small for you by now but you don't care. you just trudge along with them. i love them on you.

you are going to preschool in a few weeks.  leighton will get to be with you during your entire first year of preschool and i adore that. you are so excited to go to preschool! the one big factor in your potty training completion this summer was just that. you worked for your goal and you accomplished it, way ahead of schedule! wahoo!

you are a little boy of curiosity and wonder. 

you are three. you are mine. and you were made to make people smile.

know it. know it well.

love,

your gangsta mommy

Beckett {11 months}

ok. yeah. so whoops. so i took Beckett's 11 month pictures like ohhhh say 3-4 weeks ago. and because i am stellar at having everything totally together at all times.....i totally posted them on the blog 3-4 weeks ago right when I took them and promptly loaded them and blogged them. 

except i didn't. 

so here i am. on the eve before the eve of his first birthday, posting his 11 month update. and technically the kid is still 11 months. so it's totally ok for me to be doing this. because i am. that.cool.

mom.cool.

at 11 months this kid is just very sweet. and he has a really bad habit of head butting us. 

now that my little friend, is not cool! he loves being chased around by his brothers still. i'm sure that will be a theme running for oh say the next 15 years or so. he is standing all by himself. he is very good at flirting as you can see here very clearly. he loves the wheels on the bus and itsy bitsy spider. he's just starting to wrestle a bit with the big boys. eats lots. can't go to bed without his blankie. sleeps through

the night very well. (unless someone....ahem....cough cough, Chase, cough, clearing throat....wakes up in a raging night terror type of tantrum and wakes him up) usually goes back to sleep easily from those. 

likes greek yogurt. loves putting crayons into water bottles. loves putting crayons into mouth. starting to use crayons to color a teeny tiny bit. makes his momma smile. makes his momma happy. 

the most i could get him sitting was this.

Chase { 32 months}

It has been a long, long while since an update on my little Chaseroo. It's hard to believe he is closing in on 3 years old, this summer. That twinkle in his eye is no lie. He is just as sweet and adorable and charming and mischievous as that little twinkle appears. At 2 and 3/4 of a year, Chase has grown into such a little boy. A boys boy. Trucks and trains and rocks and bugs. He does throw in an occasional tea party every now and then, but mostly he's pretty serious about being a little superhero cowboy. Oh and he loves string cheese. 

Beckett {10 Months}

I'm a tad late {again} on Beckett's monthly update. Hey...at least I got it up IN the same month. That's pretty awesome of me. At 10 months, things around here are getting a little more busy. Wow..this kid can get around. The closest I could get him sitting on his butt in our monthly chair photo was this.

Beckett {9 months}

Oh dear. Where did 9 months go?!! Literally, it feels like yesterday that I was posting pictures of my belly 

as you were growing on the inside. Like HERE. And even posing pictures of you from the actual inside wombal area. Like HERE. 

Imagining what you would be like. Preparing for what you would be. 

After 9 months of getting to know you, what I can say is that you are so much better than I imagined. And it's not so much that I imagined that I wouldn't like you or anything. I just am so.in.love.with.you. (your big brothers must have taught you how to have that effect on me). But, really, you are just a card. You are a buggy wuggy, sweetie peety. I don't know how many ooey gooey words I could use to describe you. 

A LOT. 

Here you are in your monthly month photo. 

Beckett {4 months} & {5 months}

{Four months} 

Wow, the time between 3 and four months flew by so fast I didn't even get the blog post up before 5 months hit! So here we are doing a double whammy. Life is so busy with three little ones that I'm having a hard time remembering what even went on during the fourth month. I'm pretty sure sleeping through the night stopped abruptly. And teething was right there to pick up the free sleep time that I was enjoying. But even with a lack of sleep...it's hard to resist those toothless gums. 

And those toe-jam filled toes.

Wow...Mr. Serious-face. Plus some extra toes.

Streeeetch. 

Wow. You are turning out to be a little charmer. Just like your predecessors. 

{5 months}

Here we are at 5 months. I totally see some cheekage filling outage here. 

Grab those toes. And Look at me balance! 

Holy cute buckets, Batman. 

My little big boy. Growing out of his mom's frame. Of her camera lens.

And just a few iphone shots. All gussied up for a wedding. 

Chew chew smile. Chew chew laugh. Chew chew scream.

So yeah, speaking of screaming. There's a lot of screaming coming out of this little 16 pound wonder these days. It's not so much a cry scream as it is a listen to this guys....."i can scream and squeal louder than any of you can talk" (or louder than any of you can hear yourselves think) for that matter. Really it's cute. Until it starts hurting our ears. Then I just go and kiss him to make him stop. Let's see. Those teeth haven't poked through yet but I swear I saw a teensy tiny bit of white yesterday. The drool and fussing is confirming that fact that we are teething. Just not full force yet. As you could see in the pictures above, Beckett is starting to balance sitting up. It's so funny to watch him topple sideways over onto his side. And he is starting to scoot himself around just a tad. Like last weekend, when he propped up next to his cousin, Helen, he scooted himself from the top of her head down to her feet. Of course, he was ticked so
I think that helped him push a little farther. He also turns a bit and rolls over a lot. Not both ways yet.
He is totally interested in toys and loves hanging out in his exersaucer. Thank you JESUS!!! Oh yeah, and when he is not screaming he is starting to really babble. When he gets upset he says, "maaa, maaaa" and otherwise if we are just talking I can usually get him to mimic a sound like "ahhh, ahhh".  I'm sure i'm forgetting a boat load of other things too.
In the medical arena, he is way over due for his 4 month check up and shots. Bad mommy. Bad mommy. The appointment is scheduled. I'm pretty sure they are gonna tell me that he grew and he is healthy. And then I need to decide what kind of shots I'm gonna let him get. Boo.
Mainly though, he's growing. He's cute. He likes to laugh. He's totally addicted to mommy and I'm totally gonna keep him. For sure.

love,
mommy

Beckett {3 months}

My littlest boy. Blowin through the months. What a cute little daper three month old.

One thing he is not blowing through is the onsies. I swear when Leighton was his age, we had more blowouts than you can imagine. This guy keeps things much better under control in that department. Or maybe the Luvs company has just improved. 

He continues to be a pretty chill little dude. He prefers to be draped over ones arm, face-forward and side-laying most of the day. His cheek smashed up against your forearm. Drool included. And boy can that boy drool. If he is anything like his biggest brother, he will have a full set of eight pearlies in about 3 more months. Lord help my ladies...or as Leighton would call them, "my feeders". 

What else can I say? Leighton and Beckett continue to be best buds but now Chase has really started to take a liking to his new bro as well. He is now taking breaks from his "terrible two" naughty antics to stop and give his little bud a kiss on the cheek, on a regular basis. Leighton and Beckett have now mastered the art of Leighton laying beside him and pulling him up on his chest and giggling at each other. And they usually both enjoy that, until Leighton gets spit up on. 

My favorite thing about three months old.....aside from everything. The giggles. I adore those giggles. 

Love you bud.  Signed, mom. 

Beckett {2 months}

It's amazing how two little feet taking up such little space on the earth can take up so much space in our hearts. 

Wow. 2 months? Really!!! He's already 2 months old? It really seems like a big fat blur of time that has flown before my very eyes. But it has been oh so good this time around. And not that any of the previous boys weren't oh so good too! But, you just wonder before you have them if you will get to enjoy them as much or how hard it will be or whatever. 

But just have yourself a gander at this little guy.

He is absolutely as easy and laid back as he is cute. Meaning this little guy is really a dream come true in the baby department. The biggest shocker that Beckett has given me is that he sleeps through the night. 

Now let me tell you. I used to think "those moms" who bragged about their newborns sleeping through the night were actually on crack and just were so strung out that they didn't realize their babies weren't actually sleeping while they were sleeping. Becuase, come on, they don't sleep through the night that early. They can't. And then along came Beckett. He fell into a sleeping through the night routine probably close to 5 weeks. And I just sortof ignored it and told myself it was a fluke and he would start waking every two hours any day now. Because that's what his predacessors did. And With the boys, I just came to accept that I would never sleep through the night again until they were one. And that was fine too. But my little Beckett just likes his sleep. Sure he will have a night here and there, maybe once a week or two where he awakes and wants a snack but really I can't even recall the last time he woke up for me. 

In other developmental news, Beckett is all smiles. Anytime you show him your smile, he will match and raise you 20. His big gummy smiles are just.plain.heavenly. Add in the sweet little precious cooing and I can barely stand it. Ok, clearly he's not all smiles in this picture but I thought this one displayed his downright handsomeness. 

This was what I was referring to. Although this is more of a "i've got something up my sleeve smile"

And this is a "i know how to melt my mommy's heart smile"

His two month check-up went very well. He's in the 43rd for weight and he's in the height category....well, have you seen his parents? Let's just say he's in the "short" percentile. Other than that, he's a healthy little dude and we thank God for that. 

On the home front, Beckett has settled right into our family and I think he is even starting to like us. Well, for sure we know he LOVES Leighton. Him and Leighton have this special little bond that is very apparent. Beckett can be wailing away and as soon as Leighton goes over to him he stops crying and is very soon beaming at Leighton with a big gummy smile. Leighton is very protective of him and it is just one of the sweetest things in the world to see them interact. Well, I'm sure there are many many more things I'm not covering. But the bottom line is we are just smitten!  

We love you little Beckett Cullen. We.love.you! 

Perfectly, Imperfect.

Ok.......so let me set the record straight here. I really, really, really, really don't like to be one of those bloggers who just types all this "cutesy, schmutsy, our life is so perfect" stuff about my kids and really literally almost makes you want to vomit in your mouth. I repeat...I don't want to make you vomit in your mouth!

I do hope that you get some sense of the realism of life through some of my writing. The realism as in....

i do occasionally have crabby kids. REALLY crabby kids.
and said occasionally crabby kids ocassionally. JUST occasionally people, have a crabby mom.

{like the other night when we were scurrying to get supper ready while ushering the kids in from outside (praise God!) with fresh mud and dead grass all over their shoes and clothes and eventually tramping it onto my carpet. i was trying to contain that while not burning the awesomely processed health-filled box of angel hair pasta, which i would have burned hadn't my husband caught it, and then keep that list running for about 10 minutes. and add in a dash of chase dumping maverick's water all over the bathroom floor and stomping in it with his brand new dry fresh out of the dryer socks and while Leighton is trying to take snacks out of the cupboard as we remind him that supper is almost ready so he doesn't really need ice cream. and imagine that i hadn't been one bit crabby or snippy with them. imagine. and then slap yourself and wake up. cuz i was. i was cranky and bossy and annoyed. and at one point i looked at my husband who quickly looked away as if to avoid making eye-contact with this mother monster storming through the house trying to get things in order and for cryin out loud, not burn a meal for once. just once!}

anyway, back to the list of realism:

messy messes
forgotten appointments
late for everything
goofed up names of great friends kids who i totally know their names
dogs who get hurt at the park and the mother of said dog, does not know how
poop. lots of poop
broken glasses. thank you chase
many,many,many more.


ok, so there. our life is real. it's not perfect.

but......................

but......................

then there is THIS!



and in this moment i know. everything. all of this. this messy, imperfect life. it is actually quite possibly the most perfect thing i could have ever dreamed of.

thanks God.

wait...........did you just puke? i hope not.

20 months

My boy. My boo. My Chaseroo. 20 months old today. Wow, I can't believe that one. You are such a funny little character. You love to run around and act crazy. You have changed so much in the last few months. Mostly in your vocabulary and decisiveness. You're favorite phrase is (with a whiny, demanding pitch) is "owllll, doit!" {translation: i'll do it}. You say so many words now and seem to understand most things you are saying. Although, when you are being naughty and throwing your corn or your peas or grapes or raisins or crackers or what have you....I will remove you from the table. And after a few minutes of whining, I will ask you if you are ready to listen, you always say yes. And then if I follow that up with, "are you gonna throw your corn again?", you always say yes to that to. And then I usually put you back up to the counter and sure enough you end up throwing your corn again. If only you weren't so cute.....

Let's see. Oh, onto the sleeping arrangements. So, you still sleep in your crib. However, you are not the least bit pleased about this. Auntie Valerie gave you and Leighton a little play tent recently and now you guys like to think you are going to have your nap time in it, together. And it usually occupies you guys with chatting and giggling and bringing every possible toy in there for a while. And then you end up in your crib because the whole part of nap time that includes the nap just wouldn't happen that way. You also insist now on staying in Leighton's big boy bed after we finish our bedtime prayers. You are becoming more and more clear about the fact that you are not happy with us when we make you go in your crib.

Oh but the cutest thing you said was the other day when I had to put you in your crib. And Leighton stayed out in the tent during nap time. Leighton said, "Chase....it's OK, I"ll be right out here if you need me". And do you know what you said? You said..."Leighton (which you say really, very clearly by the way-pronouncing the L and all......you said, "Leighton......pause.....
Leighton says "what"
and you say...."Jeses yoves you" {translation:Jesus loves you}.

Melt my charmed little mommy heart.

In other news, you love doing everything your big brother does and peeing like a big boy in the big boy potty is one of them. Now, this does not really fit our my plan right now so I am trying to hold you off on potty training. A lot of times you will tell me that you are peeing and get upset probably that your diaper is on. You also tell me when you poop. Other times you just take your diaper halfway off and then I let you sit on the potty. However, you tend to get off and try to run around naked. At that point, I grab a diaper and we have a naked baby pursuit on our hands. When I finally catch you, you say "no, no, pee, pee" and then you go sit back on the potty again and say "wait". Go ahead and press repeat on that scenerio about 14 times and you will soon know why I am not a fan of actually doing official potty training right now. Perhaps lugging around your little brother or sister inside my belly has a little something to do with it. Or I'm just lazy. Either or, you aren't going to be potty training under my watch until later this summer. Sorry honey.

Mainly, you are just becoming such a big little boy. And your daddy and I just can't get enough of you.

Love, your mama.

18 Months

My littlest but soon to be middle one.
A mix of sweetness and spice and fire and ice.
All cutsie and funny and goofy and sunny.



He's all ours, that's for sure. A sweet gift to us.
I will never know why God blessed us THIS MUCH!


Well, my Chasey-boy has hit the 1 1/2 mark. Would I be repeating myself here if I said it seems like he was just a baby? I'm pretty sure I have been saying that for well, about 15 months! And all at the same time, I can't imagine him a baby anymore because it just seems like he has been this spunky little 18 month old forever.

What can I say about this little character? He always holds a twinkle in his eye that taunts you, both with his sweet demeanor and his next naughty little plan. He surely knows how to test us but he always ends up with a kiss. He is becoming so smart and his vocabulary seems to be endless. While he sticks to mostly one word at a time, he is just starting to say little two or three word phrases. Things such as "mo miwk peas" {mommy translation: more milk please} or "avvvwick,baaaawoom" {maverick, get in the bathroom and stop eating my food"}, and my favorite favorite favorite favorite right now is....."yaaaaaama" {i love you}. The next cutest thing to "yaaaaaaama" is when he just did something naughty and I am giving him one of those "mommy is not happy that you did that" looks. He toddles over to me, cricks his neck to the side, flashes me a naughty little smile and says, "hiyeeeeeee". And then he waves. To add insult to injury. Totally melting his mother's heart.

Chase is one busy boy, rarely sitting or standing still. He has very little interest in books at this point. He is also very dis-interested in TV. The one show he will watch for about 1 minute is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. And that's only during the opening song and the hot dog dance at the end. He totally freaks out when he hears it is on, running in the room to get his hot dog on. As soon as he's done getting his grove on, he's outtta there. And onto the next cupboard, drawer or cabinet that he can destroy.

If he's not pulling something out of a cupboard somewhere in the house, you can usually find him sitting on Maverick's back saying "geee up" {giddy up}. He also runs around the house calling for him whenever he can't find him.

In non-canine companion news, Chase and Leighton are starting to play together really nice. They can actually entertain each other for slightly longer periods of time without one of them getting pushed, hurled, scratched, or his beloved toy of the minute stolen from him. Notice I said "slightly longer periods of time" people. Don't get too excited for me here. Sorta like the other night when Derrick and I were doing our nightly routine of tucking the boys in with a book and prayers. When we do this ritual, Chase now likes to be tucked into Leighton's bed with him for the prayer and right before he is moved to his crib. So the prayer was cute as always and then I asked Chase if he wanted to hug Leighton good-night. So they embraced and hugged and rolled and kissed each others cheeks in the cutest little display of brotherly love that Derrick and I have seen on this side of the Missisippi. And then Chase bit Leighton's arm. Sending them both into a screaming fit of bedtime terror. It was a beautiful moment people. Just beautiful.

We love you, Chase! With all our hearts. Our world will always be better because of you!

15 months

It doesn't seem like 15 months ago, I had posted Chase's first photo shoot, by Mommy, seen HERE.

And one night, a week or so ago, he had fallen fast asleep in the car so I hurried him down to his room to change into his jammies. Alas, my kids are going to bed and I can get something done! As I turned around with his jammies in my hand and saw him laying on his brothers bed, in just his diaper all scrunched up like that little newborn 15 months ago, I was stopped dead in my tracks.

It's so true that we all say "enjoy it because it goes so fast". It does go by fast! And sometimes when I am so busy thinking of this and doing that and trying to get "it all done", I just let it go by. But, this night, I got lucky. For a few moments I got to enjoy the beauty of my sleeping boy, almost like it was the first time I watched him sleep. Pure innocence. Pure joy.



Wow, to describe Chase at 15 months is not an easy task. Chase is so sweet-as you see above but he is so much more than that. He is determined and proud of himself and just plain silly. He makes us laugh a lot! When he starts talking in sentences, I can about imagine what he will come up with. Speaking of talking, he is starting to come along in the language department. Some of his words include: sit, sock, dad, mom, up, pup (for cup), foot, and he sticks his tongue out to say Maverick. He gets up and down the stairs very well and can get up on the couch by himself now. Him and Leighton do a lot of wrestling which is pretty cute, until Leighton body-slams him or something. Then it's not so cute anymore. When those two finally hug and kiss, it's pretty much sweeter than my favorite frosting. And Maverick. Chase adores Maverick and is constantly hugging him and laying all over Maverick's big fluffy body and trying to kiss his nose. Of course, Maverick takes a beating from Chase from time to time to but nothing that he isn't used to by now. Being a large, docile dog among 3 and 1 year old boys can be an unforgiving position to hold. One of my favorite things that Chase does these days is hug and kiss you like there's no tomorrow. Just like we should all do, right! It just melts my little mommy heart.

That about covers 15 months. I will leave with another series of photos of Chase enjoying mommy's apple and even sharing with his big brother.



I love you my little Chase. You are as sweet as APPLE pie.

14 Months

Chase, at 14 months you are quite a little treat! And you enjoy eating lots of lots of treats! While I was once worried about your picky eating habits, you now spend half your days digging in our Lazy Susan for whatever you can get your hands on. This weekend you had a love affair with bologna and polished off an entire container in just a few short days. I won't be buying that stuff anymore and made the switch back to it's healthier counterpart, deli turkey. So far, you like it, as long as it is rolled up. You don't have a ton of words at this point but you are really really good at saying "sit" to Maverick. You even do the fist to chest sign that we show Maverick. You put your fist up in your neck roll but that's pretty close and Maverick still gets it. You have started to help with the dishes and really like to mop with me. You enjoy coloring-for about 2 minutes. Then you enjoy throwing all your markers on the floor. One of your favorite game is sitting on mommy or daddy's tummy and riding us like a horsey.When we are outside, your favorite activity is digging in what is left of mommy's little walk-way flower garden. You usually come out with a mouth-full of dirt at the end. You keep up with Leighton really well, despite his "accidentally" pushing you down most chances he gets. Usually you just scream at him a bit and move on to the next activity.

On Maverick. Well, that's usually where you are. Sitting on him, riding on him, or laying on him. Honestly honey, I don't know if Maverick really cares for you all that much. Mainly because you frequently pull his ears, pokes his eyes and bite his back.I do try my hardest to play referee. On the other hand though, he really REALLY loves you because you can almost bet that 1/2 of any food that goes in your hands, gets dropped into his patiently waiting chops.

On Leighton. You two are such a sweet and salty little pair. On the sweet part. The other night, I told you to give Leighton and hug and you just started attacking him with huge baby bear hugs and sloppy open mouthed kisses. And you both just rolled around for what felt like ever. And my heart was totally full at that moment. I will always remember that moment.
On the salty part. Well all I can say is you two have your fair share of disputes over toys, sippy cups and the tv remote.



On Me. You don't always like me when I have to limit you at 3 pieces of bologna. You don't like it when I "attempt" to teach you about time-out. You actually sort of get it and when I threaten it, you take yourself over there, sit down and point at me. I'm sure you have seen this scenario played out numerous times with a mischievous little 3 year old. But, when I am not busy wearing the "because I said so" hat, we have so much fun together. You love it when I sing the "if your happy and you know it song". You love cuddling every once in a great while. And I eat up every moment of it.



On Daddy. Boy ,are you are a daddy's boy! When he walks in the door, I swear you are going to have a heart-attack of excitement. As of late, he has taught you and Leighton to do the football stance and say all kinds of crazy things like, "blue 42" "puppydog" "woof woof" and you run right in between them trying to tackle them both. You really do prefer him over me in most cases and that's fine. You'll convert back to me at some point. Remember, I know where the bologna is hidden.......
But, really , it's adorable how much you just flat out adore him. I love watching that.


And this my little buddy, is what I captured of your dance skills at 14 months.



And here is the conclusion of your dance moves. Bologna in one hand. A microphone in the other.


I love you bud. Bologna dancing and all.