St. George

This last weekend we had a family reunion in St. George. I'm not really sure whose idea it was to have a reunion in St George the last week of July (hello 105 degrees), but we did and we enjoyed it anyway! I decided to go even though Ben had to work, so I rode down with my mom. My dad, Will, Kate and Grandma came in the other car. They left two hours after we did and had caught up to us by Cedar City. When you travel with a baby and toddler you just don't make great time! We had a fun drive anyway, the highlight was definitely stopping at the Red Barn in Santaquin for the most delicious ice cream in the world. Chase was literally flapping his arms in joy! (Okay, so he does that several times a day when he's excited about something.)

The boys were thrilled to get to the hotel and out of the car! We shared a room with Will and Kate the first night, but our room was conjoined with my parents and Grandmas so we all got plenty of time together. These boys love their aunts and uncles so much!

 We went to dinner at Chuck-a-Rama. Seriously, gross dinner. I think Chase was the only one who liked it, mostly because he got chocolate cake. Whatever, it was part of the reunion plan and we're not really ones to raise a fuss. However, just all being together was fun and I'm sure we laughed a lot.

 That night my mom, Will, Kate, Nate and I went to Mary Poppins at Tuacahn! The original plan was for my dad to go, but when I mentioned that I loved Mary Poppins when I saw it in London 6 years ago, my dad sweetly insisted that I take his ticket and that he would watch the boys. I'm so glad he did, even though Hudson screamed for a good hour after I left- my dad and Grandma are troopers! Eventually Grandma had the touch and got him to sleep. Mary Poppins was enchanting, the red rock surrounding Tuacahn is gorgeous and I had an amazing night! I told Ben he even would have enjoyed it (although I think he still doubted me).

I returned back to the hotel around midnight to two sleeping boys. While we were getting ready for bed both boys woke up and the screaming began! Chase was seriously upset about something, I'm still not totally sure what, and cried for over an hour. We'd get one kid settled down and the other one would start crying, getting the other boy going all over again! Will and Kate kept Huds happy while I was trying to figure Chase out. Finally I started rubbing his little legs which calmed him down. My whole life when I'm really really tired I get intense leg pains, and I think Chase might have the same thing. Even while I was rubbing Chase wouldn't sleep and still had bouts of crying and screaming. Kate came and laid down next to him and sang him Primary songs softly. He sat and glared at her, but calmed down much better. Sometime around 1:30 we finally got both boys calm and in bed! It lasted for a few hours until Hudson woke up again!!!! While I was trying to change and feed Hudson, Chase woke up and was confused and a little scared. Kate quickly got out of bed and got him back to bed and we all got back to sleep with much less commotion than the previous episode. The whole night was so crazy and frustrating and I was so so grateful for Will and Kate's sweetness and help!

Saturday morning Chase woke up early asking for Papa- who heard him and mercifully came and got him and took him on a walk so we could all sleep a little longer. Chase was excited that he got to see the St George temple (or both temples, as Chase insisted that there are 2 temples- one of which I'm pretty sure was a tabernacle). After a chill morning at the hotel (which we seriously needed after that insane night o' crying) we headed to Pine Valley for a picnic.

I couldn't get over how beautiful the scenery in St George was! I love red rock and the mountain setting of Pine Valley was a beautiful breath of fresh air! They set up a slack-line and Chase, of course, loved it!

 Also, my dad, Huds and Chase all wore their matching Red Sox shirts, which was adorable. And later Nate showed up in his too! My dad loves his grandbabies and loved showing them off to his cousins.

 After the picnic and a little shopping, we headed to dinner at a yummy Mexican restaurant. Chase managed to get ridiculously dirty, but had a good time nonetheless. I was so grateful for my family's kindness and help with the boys. I was going crazy trying to keep them happy and safe by myself, but everyone really helped out a ton and seemed to enjoy them being around :)

Both the boys love their Great-Grandma, or Unky-Grandma as Chase calls her.

Saturday night when much smoother than Friday night and Sunday morning at 5:30 am we were on the road! (Bishop Smith had to make it back in time for church.) Besides Hudson's many ill-timed diaper changes (I don't think we really need anymore details than that) we made it home in fantastic time and in one piece! 

All in all, sleeping challenges aside, the trip was short, but awesome. I loved spending time with family and my only regret was that we didn't have Ben and Heidi with us! My boys are really great travelers (which is good with the parents they have) and it was so fun to get away. 

Tools, Red Sox, Sleeping and Swimming

Here is a random post full of pictures of the boys

that haven't fit into another post so far.

So here's a few cute pictures and cute stories about my favorite little people.

A few days ago Ben was going to help a neighbor install a doggy door.

We originally planned on Chase NOT going with him, due to the fact that he'd be 

using an electric saw which could be dangerous.

Once Chase knew that Ben was gathering tools to go over there it was all over.

He asked me to put on his "tootles" and hat on-

which was way too cute and of course Ben took him along.

 And then he came back two hours later with a slurpee.

This was Chase's first introduction to slurpees, and he was a huge fan.

Only he calls it a "sloppy joe".

 Here are my little Red Sox fans!

Will brought home Hudson's little shirt for Chase when he was a baby,

and my parents went to Boston earlier this week and brought Chase's shirt back for him.

Chase loves matching Hudson and thinks it is so fun 

to wear their Red Sox shirts together.

 I've stopped swaddling Hudson to sleep now.

This picture was last week when my brother Nate put him down for his nap.

I figured explaining swaddling to Nate was probably asking a little much,

and Hudson did fine! So I've decided to bag it. 

Sleeping babies are so dang sweet, I had to take a picture.

 Of course, the flash woke him up

so this was the next picture I took :)

 We go swimming almost every day.

Chase loves it, Hudson usually tolerates it.

But seriously, how cute is this little sun hat my aunt Dennette knit for him!

She's sweet to want to protect his little bald head.

 These two love each other and it makes my heart burst!

Chase loves to "make Hudson happy" and Hudson just watches Chase with the biggest grin on his face. I love these little buddies!

It's a good thing he's cute

This parenting gig- it's harder than I thought it would be. One thing I've learned in my 2.5 year career as a mother is that you figure one thing out, feel like you've got a handle and understanding of one aspect, and your kid will throw some other challenge at you! (Or is it just my kids? Please tell me everyone feels like this?)

One of the hardest aspect of babies for me- SLEEP! Or the lack thereof. When Chase was 7.5 months old we "sleep trained" him. Our method: let him cry for ten minutes intervals and after ten minutes one of us would go in and comfort him, repeat until we were all so fed up that I would nurse him so we could all go back to sleep. Repeated for 2 nights and on the 3rd night- magic! Chase slept through the whole night without waking! And he continued pretty much every night after that (with the exception of traveling, teething, moving that would temporarily throw him off). Let me tell you- sleeping for a solid 6-7 hours is amazing!

We decided to start Hudson a little younger, shortly after he turned 5 months. Since he's a big guy I figured he should be able to sleep all night without feeding. We worked on it for 15 nights, which was pretty much a nightmare. He slept through the night on nights 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12 and then completely stopped. Nights that he didn't sleep through the night were exhausting. So after 15 nights, I gave up. Whatever, I'll just feed him so I can go back to bed.

The problem: I think I broke him. Since I threw in the towel he's been getting up 5-6 times a night! And he's not napping well either. Basically I'm losing my mind.

So I'm writing this out so that I can remember years from now how hard this stage is, and [hopefully] just like every other stage, eventually it passes. And so if you see me do something embarrassing/crazy in public (like lose my patience with my kids, drive away with groceries on my car, forget what I'm saying mid sentence) you can just laugh and know what I'm up against!

But, like I titled this post- It's a good thing he's cute! The lack of sleep might be driving me crazy, but I sure love this baby and he's 100% worth it!

Chase Day

Last week my mom planned a "Chase day" (as if every day isn't Chase day around here!). It was perfect- absolute heaven for this boy the whole time! We started off by riding Frontrunner down to Salt Lake. Chase loves trains and was so excited to ride on a train! The whole time he stared out the window and talked about how we were riding a train and were going to Salt Lake. 

 And Hudson was mostly just content to be along for the ride.

We love this easy going baby!

 Once we got to Salt Lake we went to the Discovery Gateway- this was the coolest children's museum! Chase had wide open eyes the whole time and loved going from exhibit to exhibit just exploring and taking it all in! It was so fun for me to be able to just play with him and watch him explore without saying, "No Chase! No! Don't get into that!" a million times, like I do when we explore the kitchen on a daily basis :)

 Chase loved the ball exhibit, playing the music, and the water table, but his true love (and where we spent about 80% of our time there) was the construction site! Chase was in heaven here!

 We took a break and met up with Ben for lunch at Z Tejas- which was delicious. I didn't take any pictures there, mostly because taking a toddler and baby to a sit down restaurant was enough of a juggling act without worrying about a camera. Our kids decided to switch personalities and Chase was easy going and well-behaved and Hudson was fussy and high maintenance! Oh well, it was delicious and fun to see Ben.

Then it was back to the Discovery Center! We played around with all the different magnet toys upstairs and Chase went out to check out their helicopter. He was a little timid about the helicopter and finally decided to go inside to check it out. Then the soundtrack started playing helicopter noises and Chase took off- he isn't scared of much, but loud noises really bother him. Oh well, he was still proud of himself for getting inside.

 We had to finish our day back down at the Construction Zone. Chase was super tired at this point, from all the excitement and it being past naptime. He squatted down like this and just watched everything else going on for a little while, in a total daze!

 Then he got his second wind and jumped back in the action! He loved this so much, it was so fun to see him so happy and totally in his element!

 The only way we convinced Chase to leave without a major tantrum was by telling him that we still got to ride the train home! Chase was just as enthusiastic about riding a train home as he was there!

It was such a fun day to do all the things Chase loves and see him explore new things! A big thanks to my mom for treating us to such a fun day! I loved every minute of it! And, obviously, so did Chase. 

Out of the Mouth of Chase Part V

Me: Are you Chase Hugo?
Chase: No, I'm just a big boy.
Me: Is this Hudson Hugo?
Chase: No, he's a tiny one.

While saying his prayers: Thank you for airplanes. Thank you that I could ride with Papa in an excavator. Thank you I could go with Papa to Aaron's and ride the tractor. (For clarification- he hasn't done those things in at least a month, I think these "thank yous" were really more like a wish list)

After eating a bite of salad:
Chase: It's yummy! It's yummy in my tummy... and then to my legs.

Will: Chase, you need to be a good helper, or you are going to get fired.
Chase: Where is the fi-ya?

(Chase has a book called Diggers and Dozers- as in big machines that dig like excavators, and dozers as in bulldozers,which he loves)
Hudson was closing his eyes while nursing the other day
Chase: Oh, Hudson's asleep?
Me: No, I think he's just dozing.
Chase: Oh, Diggers and Dozers. Hudson's a dozer.

All week he's been singing "Old MacDonald, HE HAS a FARM. E-I-O-O-O-O-O-O"

I hear these two all the time:
Where is them?
What doin' mama?

While reading GoodNight Moon to him, he has been repeatedly troubled by the page that says "Good night moon (with a picture of a full moon) Good night cow jumping over the moon (with a picture of a cow jumping over a crescent moon)" On more than one occasion he has brought the discrepancy up to me.
"The moon is broken. Maybe daddy fix it? It needs batteries."
or
"Oooohhh.  The cow broke the moon."
I figure we'll explain to him the phases of the moon when he's 3 :)
Also, you can fix anything with batteries. Batteries or kisses.

4th of July

I love the 4th of July! We have spent the last 3 years NOT in America for the 4th, and we were so excited to be here this year to be part of the fun! We started out the morning with red, white and blue crepes. And yes, I'm a dork, and took a picture because I was so proud of them!

 After our fun breakfast Ben had to go to work. I got the kiddos ready and we headed out to enjoy the Kaysville parade with Will, Kate and the rest of the Newbold family (Kate's family). We lucked out and found parking really close, then a perfect spot under a shady tree right at the start of the parade! It was awesome!

 Hudson fell asleep in the stroller minutes before the parade started and slept through half of it. Chase seriously enjoyed the whole thing! His favorite part was the firetrucks at the start, but he was totally entertained by everything that passed us by! He sat on Will's shoulders or my shoulders for the first part and clapped his little hands and waved! It was darling!

 This boy has a serious firetruck obsession-

this was basically Christmas for him!

 About halfway through the parade Chase found Bruce, Kate's dad. They became best friends and Chase spent the whole last half sitting/standing on Bruce's lap, climbing all over him and playing with his sunglasses. I had a blast just being there with family, chatting and watching Chase's excitement.

Both of my boys on their first American 4th of July!

 After the parade and naps we went swimming in the pool. As always, we had a blast and loved watching Chase's daredevil skills in the pool. He loves to "fly high to the sky!" Here is Unky Will helping him out with that. Ben was able to get home in time to enjoy the pool with us!

After going off the diving board 50 times Chase was finally worn out! We put both boys to bed and had a little BBQ with Will, Kate and Will's friend and fiancee. All our food turned out delicious, even though we didn't eat until almost 9 pm (we found out that our organizational skills for stuff like that need a little work) but it was so fun chatting until then that it didn't really matter.  We were joined by our fabulous family friend, Pam from Boise, for fireworks. We sat on the balcony of my parents house and could see fireworks going all over the valley. It was amazing! We were watching about 15 different firework shows at the same time. It was really incredible. Will had quote of the night by saying, "This is awesome! I'm going to start believing Mom and Dad when they tell me things are cool." My parents watch fireworks there every year, but he had been opting to go the Kaysville fireworks, which are also cool, but not quite the same as this! We sat there for over an hour enjoying the amazing view, mixed in with a lightening show. 

The whole day was incredible! It was so fun- we had a great time together and enjoyed so many fun activities. I am so proud to be an American and so glad to be back in America! Living abroad really taught us just how blessed we are to live in the amazing country that we do. Happy Birthday America!

5 years

5 years ago today we sealed the deal!

5 Christmases, 6 moves, 2 degrees, 1 car, 

2 countries, 12 fun trips, and 2 beautiful babies later-

It's been a beautiful adventure!

Love you babe!

What doin' Mama?

I hear this phrase at least 20 times a day- and it always makes me smile! "What doin' Mama?"

Tonight I went in to check on Chase about 30 minutes after we put him to bed. I started to panic just a little when I saw that he wasn't in his bed and couldn't see him anywhere else in his room.

Then a little voice and tiny head peaked out from under the bed, "What doin' Mama?"

Oh what a sweet, funny little boy!

20 minutes later Ben went in and had to take a picture of the site he found:

I love how he took a pillow under there with him and has his little feet all propped up on the blanket. The flash from the camera woke him up and he groggily said to Ben, "we didn't do motors on the bus!"

So Ben pulled him back up on his bed, tucked him in, and sang him the requested verse of Wheels on the Bus. Now he can finally settle in for the night and go to sleep!

Apparently this desire to sleep under the bed is genetic, Ben remembers doing this all the time when he was little.