3 1/2 years and 1 1/2 years

July marks my boys half-birthdays so I thought it was time for an update on what these cute boys are up to:

Chaser

• Is still completely obsessed with big machines, tractors, diggers, airplanes, etc. When he sees a pile of dirt he just can't help himself, he HAS to dig in it.
• Has taken off in reading. We've been getting books from the library and he's blowing me away in his ability to read these books! 
• Has an amazing imagination and can play in his own little world for hours! Give him a few toy cars and he'll make the world around him into a road/bridge/construction site.
• I have to talk him into going swimming every single time we go, but then he has a blast in the pool! He can float in his back for 15 seconds, swim short distances on his own and has no fear of the water whatsoever. 
• Sets the table for dinner now, so we have extensive conversations several times a day about which hand is right and left. It's kind of cute and kind of annoying.

Hudson

• Is huge! I can't believe how fast he's growing.
• Is talking up a storm lately! My favorites are "peh-pah" (pepper), "bewwees" (berries), "Cheeese!" (chase) "zzzi-zzzi" (zipper) "wo-wo" (hello- also his word for phone) and says cookie "tookie" just like Chase did. He says Mama, Daddy, Nana, Papa, Baby, Shoes, Keys and mine all perfectly. He says new words every single day.
• Pushes food off his tray at mealtime and says, "mess". Mostly as a statement.
• Is so determined! If he wants something there is really no distracting him. This is cute and hilarious and so frustrating!
• Loves dogs. Every time we see one he wants to pet it and says "doggie! oof-oof!" He also thinks other animals are dogs (like foxes, cows, etc.)
• Is so selective on when he'll give kisses and hugs, but when he does it's totally worth it.
• Loves to read books to himself and will hand us a book to read to him several times a day, but usually only lasts through one page until he shuts the book and gets off our laps. At naptime/bedtime he'll sit and cuddle through several books though.
• Loves to point out other people's eyes, ears and nose. And he thinks it's hilarious.

Temple Square

Since my mom is now back from Alaska and I am back from girls camp we started up our weekly Nana adventures. My mom took the boys to lots of fun places while I was gone, so I'll have to get the pictures from her to post those. But today we took the boys down to temple square. I thought Chase would love it, every single time he sees me reading my scriptures he wants to come look at the picture of the Salt Lake temple in the back. Well I don't really know what got into Chase because he was a little grumpy and so not himself while we were there! He seemed really interested though and liked looking at the flowers and the fountains and the temple. Hudson was really only interested in the fountains and just wanted to get in the "wawa". Due to the boys less than cooperative attitudes, this was seriously the best picture I could get outside the temple. 

When I took this first picture of Chase I told him to say HAPPY, which sometimes makes him smile. He gave me this look and immediately just said, "sad". Then I talked in a Donald Duck voice until he smiled a little for a picture.

Hudson was really such a ham while we were there. He definitely grabbed a book and a water bottle and just plopped himself down right in the middle of temple square for some quiet time. Since he so desperately wanted to get in the water we took the boys over to City Creek so they could play in the fountains there. Chase played for just a minute and immediately wanted dry clothes, but Hudson could not get enough of it! He was all smiles! 

I love having adventures with these sweet boys- even if one (or both) of them isn't always super cooperative, and I love that my mom loves doing this stuff with us. This summer has been the best!

Out of the Mouth of Chase

I was gone at girls camp for a few days, so these first two are compliments of my mom, who was my all-star babysitter:

Nana: Chase, let's sing some songs in the car. How about Wheels on the Bus?
Chase: No Nana. I just like it when the car sings. (cue radio)

The first day upon my mom's arrival, Ben opens the door for her and Chase immediately turns to Ben and says, "Okay daddy, go to work!" (pronounced woik)

When I got back from camp:
Ben: Look boys! Mommy's home!
Chase: But mommy isn't supposed to be home until Friday?
Me: It is Friday, Chase.
Chase: YAY! Mommy's home!

On Sunday morning I asked him if he wanted to have oatmeal squares for breakfast, since he was begging for them at dinner the night before. His reply was, "Now, I just want them on Wednesdays."

Me: Come on little man!
Chase: I am NOT a man!
Me: Then what are you?
Chase: (thinks for a minute) I'm a Hugo!
We've had a lot of talks about what a person's full name is and what that means. For months and months he's insisted he is just Chase or Chaser. He's finally come to terms that his name is Chase Anderson Hugo. When I asked him Nora's full name the other day he responded with Nora  Anderson Hugo! And now he's decided that she's just Nora Lindsay, not Nora Lindsay Smith because she's just tiny and apparently that is too much name for such a small person.

Me: Chase, why is your underwear in the diaper bag? Did you take it off?
Chase: Yeah I did.
Me: Why?
Chase: Because it just finked.
Me: Finked???  Oh you mean "stinked"
Chase: Yeah it finked.
Me: Why?
Chase: Because there was a whole lot of gassies in it!

One morning Chase came into our room to wake us up (he's always the first one up in this house) and shortly after we heard Hudson talking away in his room. So as Ben and I are getting out of bed I hear Chase run into Hudson's room, throw a toy in the crib and say, "Here Hudson, play with that." and then run out and slammed Hudson's door behind him.

This is Chase's latest "thing"- being a crane (or a pumper truck)

When he sees a pile of dirt, he just can't NOT be a crane in it.

And  he also tries to eat like this, but it's a huge mess, so he knows he's only allowed to do it with finger food, but I'm constantly catching him trying to sneak "being a crane" with his fork. It's messy, but kind of cute too.

The Fourth

The Fourth of July- one of our favorite days of the year! I love everything about this holiday. We started off the day with belgian waffles topped with whipped cream, raspberries and blueberries. We have to add a little red, white and blue to every part of the day!

I've been trying to teach Chase all about America and what we are celebrating, so we made this flag together. Chase's favorite art projects are ones where I cut and he glues. We gave Hudson the red and blue crayons and he went to town on a piece of construction paper as well.

After naps we headed up to my parents house (even though they are out of town) for a little BBQ and swim party! We met up with Will and Katie and baby Nora, as well as most of Katie's family. It was a blast! Everyone was so sweet, patient, and adoring with the boys- I don't think Chase stopped talking for about 7 hours straight. Both boys just completely adore their new little cousin- I just love these pictures of Hudson checking out baby Nora!

The boys love to swim and had a blast in the pool! After dinner Chase even got back in for another hour when Hudson went to bed. One of the other highlights of the night for these boys was Katie's brother Dan, who brought his brand new puppy! My boys love dogs and went nuts over that little puppy! Hudson was screeching "Doggie! Woof woof!" as high as his little voice could go! After everyone was waterlogged we closed the pool and got ready for fireworks! My parents house is the best place in the world to watch fireworks- we sat on their balcony and could see fireworks going constantly all over the valley- it's an amazing show! Chase was so excited about fireworks. He got a little confused between making s'mores and the fireworks and was calling them "fire graham crackers" which later shortened to just "fire-grahams". Everything is a little better with an over-enthusiastic 3 year old.

 4th of July is such a wonderful holiday. We felt so lucky to get to celebrate as a family. Especially after living abroad, I am just so thankful for this amazing country. There is truly no other place I'd rather live and raise my family. God Bless America!

Six

On July 2nd, Ben and I celebrated SIX years of marriage! Due to being super busy the past several years, it's been a few years since we actually did much to celebrate an anniversary. This year we wanted to actually do something! Ben was able to trade his day off and we decided that we'd make the whole day a family fun day. We started out at Antelope Island. Ben and the boys had never been, and we realized we live so close to such a significant landmark and none of my boys had been there! So we introduced the boys to the Great Salt Lake! When we told Chase about it he enthusiastically said, "WOW! That's amazing!"

 Don't our boys look thrilled to spending this special day with us?

They really did have fun, I promise.

 Chase was super excited to see a few bison and an antelope. As we drove around the island he held the little map and "read" it to us, "Bison live on Antelope Island. They are very big. They are not nice. We don't touch them." And Hudson kept pointing to the bison and excitedly exclaiming "Doggies!" The highlight for both boys though was at the Ranch. They have 2 antique tractors there. I knew Chase would be thrilled, but Hudson has obviously caught on to the obsession, because he kept grabbing Ben's hand and leading him back over to the tractor.

 And we put the boys on the saddle. Hudson obviously took to it better than Chase did (who took a great deal of convincing to get up there).

After a fun morning, lunch and naptime we headed to the pool. I've been swimming nearly every day with the boys, but it isn't very often that Ben gets to join us. Both boys loved having him around and all the fun new games he brings to the experience. Chase got super in to going off the board (after weeks of him declining anytime I asked if he wanted to) and was even running and doing cannon balls off! Hudson never wants to be left out of anything Chase is doing, so my cute little 17 month old went off the board time after time! He couldn't get enough! After a fun swim we left the boys with a babysitter and went out to dinner at Cafe Rio and saw Divergent at the dollar theater. It was a perfect day to celebrate six years of marriage and the little family we've created.