The Joy of Cupcakes

Chase must have died and gone to heaven, because he got to make cupcakes with his Nana not once, but TWICE this week! Nana wanted to take some to the lady she visit teaches, who ended up not being home when they delivered the first batch. Those cupcakes got delivered to someone else and obviously another batch had to be made a few days later. Chase loved every aspect of this process! 

Batch 1

 Chase loves to help cook. He grabbed the cupcake box and was "reading" the recipe to Nana. He was pretty sure that 2 cups of baking soda was necessary. (Those would have been some gross cupcakes!)

 Chase was on sprinkle duty-

mostly for his own personal cupcake.

This was after he'd already eaten his first layer of frosting off.

 Um, yeah. This is how he ate the cupcake.

 And just because Hudson is cute, here he is right before we started squash the first time!

 And Hudson with his dad before he left for work on Friday

Hudson at 5 Months

 This sweetheart is now 5 months old! I can't even express how happy this baby has made us! He's a tough kiddo, putting up with a lot of "love" from big brother Chase. He's patient with us and gives the best smiles ever. When my mom and I took him with us shopping last weekend we had so many people comment on what a sweet, smiley baby he is- a few stating that he'd made their whole day! That's what Hudson does- he just spreads happiness everywhere he goes. Here are a few cute pictures from the last month. Five months is one of my favorite stages in my babies!

The big boy has been wanting food so so badly over the last month! Every time we eat he just stares so intently at the food and then reaches for it every chance he gets. I was originally planning on waiting until he was 6 months old, but he just wanted it so bad that we started it tonight! I bought a butternut squash and made up some baby food to feed him tonight and he loved it! He cried in between bites because he wanted more. Oh I knew he'd love to eat to real food!

Quarter Century

It's official- I'm 25! Which seems terribly old, except for the fact that I have TWO kids, and then it seems kind of young. I had a beautiful birthday this year. Last year was probably the most "blah" birthday I've ever had. To recap- I was MISERABLY sick since I was like 8 weeks pregnant with Hudson, it was super hot in Dominica, Ben had to study all day, and we ordered the grossest Chinese food ever- spent way too much money on it and ended up throwing it away, that's how gross it was.

This year, I spent Friday getting a pedicure (thanks to my mom) and shopping for some much needed new clothes with Ben and my sweet babies. Saturday was spent at City Creek for more shopping and lunch with my mom and then came home to swim with the kiddos, parents and brothers and sister and had a BBQ outside and roasted marshmellows for Smores.

With my mom at the Loft

Sunday was my actual birthday. Hudson gave me a really sweet birthday present- he only got up ONCE all night to eat! We had a wonderful relaxing Sunday, only had two hours of church thanks to the broadcast and a delicious dinner with the fam. I got lots of phone calls, emails and texts from dear friends and all around just felt wonderfully well celebrated! Thank you to everyone for making it such a beautiful birthday! So far 25 has been good to me. 

Friends!

Poor Chase has been a little deprived of friends since we moved back to Utah. Some of this is due to me being busy/lazy- first it was the holidays, then Will's wedding, then Hudson was born and it was RSV season. We've had a few playdates with other kids in the ward, but there just aren't a lot of little ones Chase's age around here. Or we drive clear to Provo (or they drive to us) to play with my friend Ashley's kids. The last two weeks my friend Candice has been in town from NYC. Her parents live just down the street from us and Chase has had a blast playing with her little boy Ellis. They are the same age and are the cutest little playmates! We've seen Ellis at some point almost every day since they've been here and I'm not sure Chase can let him go back to the big apple next week! They've been swimming in the pool, playing outside and been best buds in nursery! The last time we went swimming Chase happily exclaimed as he saw Ellis' grandma head down the steps to the pool, "My friends are here!" 

 My friend (and long lost twin) Corinne came into town as well! Corinne and I grew up in the same ward, ended up at BYU together in the nursing program, lived in the same married apartment complex, and had our first babies just two days apart! I've missed her since she moved to Boston a few years ago and was so happy to catch up with her and properly introduce our little ones. Thomas and Chase are already destined to be good friends just like their moms!

 I love the craziness of this blurry picture-

just how it is trying to take a picture with 4 tiny kids all of whom probably needed naps.

Those kids

How many tries does it take to get a decent picture of both of my children at the same time?

...

 ...

 ...

 ...

 ...

Well, I guess more than 5.

(And these don't even count the ones I deleted off the memory card 

before I loaded it on to the computer)

Maybe in your heads, combine Chase's cuteness from the first pic and Hudson's 

smile from the last pic and you can have one darling photo.

Fathers Day 2013

We had a wonderful Fathers Day this year! Cinnamon rolls for breakfast, kabobs on the grill for dinner, a few simple gifts, beautiful weather, going to church together, and spending time as a family- perfect fathers day! The boys and I sure are grateful for this guy!

 I've said it before, but Ben has surpassed my expectations as a father. He loves our boys, is darling playing with them, and is patient trying to teach them and mold them into the wonderful men we hope they'll be. They both adore him- and so do I!

Chase was being super hard to photograph, but I got so many cute ones of Ben and Hudson- so I had to share!

He's just happy to be here!

Meet the reason I may never want to stop having babies:

THIS BOY!

Okay, but seriously, if I could guarantee all my babies would be just like him,

so happy, easy, sweet and cuddly, 

I'm not sure I'd ever stop!

(Except that pesky pregnancy induced all-day-all-night for 9 months nausea I get.

I remember at this time last year I was miserable.

Don't worry Heidi- this won't be a Duggar situation.)

 This little boy is pure delight from the minute he wakes up in the morning until we put him down at night. He's done great with getting on a schedule, but also does just fine if we are out and about- he'll nap on the go and still be fairly pleasant. He definitely prefers to be held, but he's okay with being set down, riding in the stroller, or waiting for a minute or 10 in the carseat while I get groceries put away. He smiles at everyone. I've had several people comment to me that Hudson "always smiles at them!" I hate to break it to them, but he smiles at everyone! He just loves people! We say it all the time, when recapping the day or a specific event and how it went with the kids- Hudson is just happy to be here!

And we are so so happy he's here.

Recent Pictures of the boys

Oh we are loving summertime! We've been playing in the pool, playing "sticks and rocks" outside, going on walks, working in the garden, and eating lots of ice cream. It's heavenly! Our days are simple, unscheduled yet busy (keeping up with the boys!) and exhausting, but so much fun. It makes me so happy to see Chase's delight at being thrown around in the pool, or cuddling with Hudson while we sit on the porch swing. I'm so thankful for these boys!

It's not super easy to see here, but they love each other too!

Out of the Mouth of Chase Part IV

My visiting teachers were here and one of them has brought chocolate for me on her last two visits (which Chase mostly ate all of and enjoyed thoroughly). He walked right up to her about 10 inches from her face and said so seriously and innocently:
"I need chocate. I NEED chocate."
She promised she'd always bring him chocolate in the future.

Today I shared my toys with my friends. I played with my friends Kynna and Broccoli. (Kynlee and Brookie- this isn't the first time he's used food as someone's name. He calls our friend Meghan "bacon")

Me: Come here Chase, let's wash your hands.
Chase: No, I don't want to wash them. I just rub them on Hudson's cute little head.

We are constantly telling Chase he can do something he wants (play outside, go on an outing with Papa etc.) if he takes a good nap. He's also needing a haircut pretty bad these days and had informed me that he wanted Sister Mondfrans (his nursery leader that he LOVES) to cut his hair. Apparently I was too slow making the appointment because I caught him using his own (dead) cell phone the other day:
Sista Mondfrans? Yeah- you cut my hair? I took a good nap. Ok. Bye-bye. (and then he closed the phone and put it in his pocket and walked away- later that day I used the real phone to make an appointment with her.)

 On Sunday after someone finished their testimony and everyone said amen Chase exclaimed (quite loudly) SACRAMENT'S OVER! (And, actually it wasn't. But it entertained everyone around us)