Introducing....

Hudson James Hugo

January 24, 2013

5:43 pm

8 lbs 9 oz 20.5 inches long

Our little guy is here! And we adore him!

More pictures and birth story to come

Grandparents are Grand!

My little boy is so lucky that we live with his grandparents right now and he is getting lots of quality time with them! I'm loving it as well! Saturday night they offered to babysit again so Ben and I could go out, and it's so wonderful to know he's in the most capable hands so we can enjoy ourselves. Apparently they have gotten down a pretty set routine for when Nana and Papa put him to bed- Papa helps with his bath (which I understand turned into a small water fight with squirting toy boats) and Nana reads him as many stories as he wants before bed. 

They've started a bunch of "things" that Chase always remembers and likes to do with them. One of Chase's favorite things lately is to "help". Whenever we are cooking/cleaning/doing laundry/getting the mail he comes screaming "I help! I help!" Of course, having a two year old help isn't really help at all, but makes the process take much longer. My mom is so great and patient to let Chase help her and he loves it! Here he is Sunday morning helping her make a jello salad. (Right after this Chase suggested they add "chocate chips"- because they make everything better right?) On Saturday, he was "helping" her clean the bathroom, which mostly consisted of him grabbing towels and throwing them in the toilet :) As she tried to tell him not to do that, amidst her laughing, he said a firm "BYE!" and ran out the door!

 One of his favorite things to do with Papa is to watch youtube clips of tractors/big trucks/trains. They've done this quite a few times, so on Saturday as Chase sat in his high chair eating a snack my dad announced he was going to go lay down for a minute. As he left the kitchen, Chase immediately told me he was all done and got down and ran off to follow Papa. Sure enough, this is what I found when I caught up to him with the camera. Chase puts in his order (such as blue tractor or Thomas) and my dad finds the right clip (usually not quite fast enough for this impatient little one).

Oh He Loves Them!

Over Christmastime Chase was absolutely in heaven having all his grandparents, aunts and uncles around to play with him! Now that Nate and Heidi have gone back to school, and Will and Katie are married and living up in Ogden, and his grandparents are back at work all day, Chase has sorely missed all the attention. Several times he's asked me for these beloved aunts and uncles, and I've been a little sad to disappoint him (not to mention- I've missed having them around too!) Will and Katie came over for dinner last night and Chase could not have been more excited! He showed off for them all through dinner and was super happy to wrestle on the bed with them while we were showing them the new nursery. 

 Here he is screaming "TACKLE" before taking the dive!

Thanks for coming up "Unky Will and Aunt Tatie"! You made his night!

A little lately

I haven't posted much on here in the last week, mostly because there was so little post-worthy going on! Right after the wedding we all got struck with the flu, which was miserable! We even got flu shots this year, but apparently we contracted a different strain! We spent the first half of the week taking lots of naps (or taking turns taking naps and watching Chase), doing lots of laundry, and continually sanitizing every surface in the house. I think we are all finally over it now- you always appreciate good health a little more once it has returned after illness!

Other than that, my major project for the week has been getting everything ready for the baby to come! With the holidays and wedding I had done very little to prep for his arrival, including setting up the nursery. Now we have the nursery mostly ready to go and all his little clothes washed and ready! It is so exciting to see it come together and we are getting very excited for this little man to join us!

Friday night my wonderful mom offered to babysit and Ben and I went on a date! Due to our living circumstances in Dominica and the craziness that has been medical school, we have really only been on a handful of dates since Chase was born and we really, really enjoyed being out together! We went to Texas Roadhouse since our favorite waiter was working (Will) and Ben thoroughly enjoyed the roughly 5 rolls he ate prior to his steak even coming! After a yummy dinner we headed to Target to get a few random things we needed before the baby comes (so romantic, I know!) and then very slowly drove home with extremely snowy roads! Chase, I understand, had a blast playing in the snow with his Nana, having the undivided attention of his grandparents while playing with toys, had a good long bubble bath, as many stories as he wanted, and went to bed a happy kid. It was wonderful to be able to enjoy a night out and know that our little boy was well taken care of.

 Proof that we went out! It was so fun, we'll have to do it again sometime! 

Our silly boy, this is a regular play spot for him :)

Will and Katie's Wedding!

The long awaited day finally came! We were all so excited for Will and so happy to welcome Katie into our family! Festivities started off on Friday night- where sadly, I didn't take pictures. We had a beautiful wedding dinner hosted by my parents and aunts and uncles up at the Union Grill in Ogden. My aunts put together beautiful centerpieces of fresh flowers, the buffet was absolutely delicious, the company was awesome, Nate gave the most hilarious toast, we watched their beautiful slideshow put together by Katie's brothers and heard some wonderful marriage advice from our dad and Katie's dad. My siblings and I did a short little speech on "Ten things you need to know about Will" that turned out kind of cute and funny. All in all, it was a wonderful evening! I was so sad that the rest of my little family wasn't there- Ben stayed home with our sick Chase, but I really loved being able to visit with our family and friends that came!

Saturday was wedding day! It was a beautiful, clear, COLD morning! Their sealing was absolutely beautiful. Katie's grandpa is a sealer at the Bountiful Temple, which made it such a special and personal experience for them. I was so happy that we were able to be there (and that Chase got better so that we could both attend!). Will and Katie were absolutely beaming!

 We took some really freezing cold pictures at the temple-

Katie and the bridesmaids-

besides Heidi and I, there is her sister-in-law Chelsey, 

three college roommates, a mission companion, 

and her two best friends from growing up in California.

Katie is a very loved gal!

 My little island baby did NOT handle the cold weather well-

and mostly screamed through pictures. I hope that the photographer got at least one group shot, despite his grumpiness (although I really couldn't blame him).

I love this shot of him screaming in Katie's arms, along with

their niece and nephews from Katie's side of the family!

 Our sweet, basically aunt Pam came down from Boise. Pam was our 

preschool teacher and we've stayed really close with her family over the years!

She was so helpful at the temple holding our coats

while we were in pictures so we could get warm in between!

 We had time to run home for naps (much needed at this point!) before the reception.

They had their reception at the Eldredge Manor in Bountiful and it was perfect!

Everything was so gorgeous!

We had to wake Chase up from his nap to go-

so even though he doesn't look happy here, I promise he really does love his aunt Heidi!

 Chase loved having a wide open ballroom to run around in!

We only kept him at the reception for a little while.

When our favorite (and really only) babysitter Jenna came with her 

parents we sent him home with her- which worked out perfectly!

He got to bed at a good time and Ben and I got to enjoy the reception. 

Just the little details from the reception, for anyone who cares (I mean YOU Jana).

A few nights ago we had a party to put together these little pearl balls.

Many fingers were burned by hot glue in the process-

but it was worth it, because they looked beautiful!

 I loved this table! Katie collected pictures

of all their parents and grandparents on their wedding day and displayed them here.

It totally fit the vintage feel of the wedding.

It was also nice way to remember and honor my White grandparents,

who passed away when Will was little.

Will's wedding band was my Grandpa White's (who is one of the Williams he's named after)-

and Katie's engagement ring was her great-grandmother Romania's. 

I loved how they incorporated their grandparents into their day!

 I loved their flowers- this arrangement is on the crepe table

before the food came out.

They had a crepe bar which I loved.

I think between Ben and I we ate at least ten crepes that night!

So there's the story of the day we expanded our family to include an awesome new sister-in-law. I've never seen Will happier- and we couldn't be more thrilled for them!

Here is a picture outside of the temple of the new Smith family!*

*Although this picture will be outdated when baby boy #2 joins us shortly! I'm so happy he held off until wedding day- and even though we have three weeks until his due date, I'd be pretty happy if he came any time now!

Happy Birthday Chaser!

Today our Chaser man is TWO!

We can't really believe it's been two whole years since

this little pile of energy and happiness came into our lives!

Our favorite things he's doing these days:

Talking up a storm, and saying the funniest things

Spends all of Sunday morning saying "I go to nursery! Nursery!" and then 

doesn't even look back when we drop him off

Likes to wear his black socks and shoes to church to be "just like daddy!"

Asks for "big trucks" all the time

Loves to play and is mostly just so happy

Loves to be tickled- he even asks us to "tickle please!"

Gives his baby brother kisses, high fives and then knuckles- in that order- several times a day

Loves being around other kids, and just generally loves people!
When he says his prayers mostly refuses to fold his arms and insists on pointing
his little finger in the sky with everything he says

This poor little boy marked his second birthday by getting the stomach flu
for the first time! It was so sad, he was so miserable.
Even while being miserable and sick he had the sweetest
disposition and mostly wanted to just snuggle with his daddy.
I felt really bad for him and almost started crying right along with him,
but my brother Will gave me a reminder of some much needed perspective:
last summer when I was in my first trimester and throwing up a lot
Chase thought it was funny and would laugh at me!
That just explains Chase- he's a happy kid- and he laughs a lot!

Happy Birthday Chase! We love you so much!

Chase's Birthday Party

We celebrated Chase's birthday a tad early this year because his actual birthday falls on the day of Will and Katie's wedding dinner with their wedding and reception the next day. So Sunday night we threw together a little birthday party with just our family for Chase. I had plans to have it a little more decorated and elaborate, which didn't really happen and of course, Chase didn't care a bit! We made a bunch of pizzas, salad and some cut up fruit- which minus the salad, is one of Chase's favorite meals. Ben made the pizzas and they turned out delicious! Then we had cake- oh Chase LOVES cake. We made him a chocolate cake with cookies and cream filling. When I asked him if he liked the chocolate he said, "Its not chocate! It's take!" Ben was responsible for the Lightning McQueen design as well, which Chase loved. 

 I couldn't even get him to smile for the camera- 

he just wanted cake so bad!

Notice the little finger print on the picture above,

someone let him get a little too close!

 He loved everyone singing to him and blowing out his candles!

He loved it so much that we did it twice!

When a two year old smiles and says "Again! Again!" you do it again!

 He was a little confused about presents and insisted that Santa must have come again.

Either way, he loved his gifts. He loves the alphabet learning extravaganza cube he got from his grandparents (a toy he fell in love with a few weeks ago at Babies R Us).

He was also really excited about this little remote control train 

that Ben and I got him. He keeps leaning down to look it in the eye and saying

"Hi Choo Choo Train!"

I need to remember to just keep his birthday's simple, because he really thought it was the greatest thing to get cake and presents. It was so fun to celebrate with our little boy and some of the people who care about him most. The little guy is so loved. And now he gets to spend his actual birthday at a nice restaurant dining with 150 of Will and Katie's closest family and friends!