Destin

Just a quick blog to let you know I probably won't be blogging for awhile. We are headed to Destin! And yes, we'll be safe, it looks like Gustav is headed way west of us. We're excited to spend some time with family on the beach.

We had a great weekend. My sister and her fiancee were here and we got to go with them to see their wedding site, Flint Hill. They finalized everything and are set for Aug 1 of 2009. Still hard to believe my baby sister's getting married! After that we had dinner with my parents and my aunt, uncle, and mom's cousins who were all in time for a miniature family reunion of sorts. It was great to visit with everyone and listen to them reminiscence about growing up together. Old pictures were even dug out; it was grand fun. We had some super yummy food including hiffakickles! Thanks mom and dad for hosting us all!

Anyways, to bed now, we are hoping to leave at 5am...

testing out new ways to post pictures...

Standing tall

Ryan has gotten pretty good at standing and even "walking" but always with lots of help. He's convinced the only way to pull up or walk is by using my fingers. He will crawl over to me and reach for my hand and if I don't give him my fingers, he gets super fussy. I've tried to help him see he doesn't always have to have me, but it hasn't worked. Until now.

So I set him in his room and ran to the bathroom. This is safe to do I promise. Or at least the safest thing to do. We have a babygate to keep him in and the dog out. But anyways, if I have to go, that's where I put him for a couple of unsupervised minutes. This afternooon when I came back to join him in his room, he was standing up holding onto his airplane and just chilling. I couldn't decide if I was surprised or scared or proud or what. But there he was none the less. I imagine he finally pulled up on his beautifully bright red Bulldog rocking chair. I've sort of showed him he could do it that way, but with me in the room all he had ever wanted was me to pull him up. Once he's up he walks from the chair to the toy chest to the airplane to his piano with no troubles at all.

This photo is actually from Tuesday (when he still needed my help), but it's very similar to what I was greeted to this afternoon.

Hero of the Day

So my sis-in-law Sarah gets to be my hero for today. She uploaded the Weekapaug pictures last night and posted two videos! Thanks Sarah! Here's the link to the new photo album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/TheFamilyChase/Weekapaug

You can see the newest videos by clicking over there on the right on my youtube videos. There's a great one that Sarah took of Great-Grandma feeding Ryan. It's so cool and special to see them interacting like that! The other video makes me sort of sad. These were only about three weeks ago and Ryan is so hestitant and wobbly in his walking. I was surprised to see that since he's so much stronger already. He can hold his rocking chair or his toy chest and walk back and forth without me now. There's no shakes at all. I had no idea just how quick he is growing up until I saw this video!

Weekends!

Since Coleson works for the church, our weekends are Friday and Saturday. I actually really like that. Fridays have become our day since most other people are at work and therefore we have less plans and responsibilities. We spend most Fridays, especially Friday mornings, together just being a family and enjoying each other's company. Breakfast has become our special meal - for a while we were going out to Chickfila or Waffle House, but we've started staying in recently. It's better for our budget and Ryan's nap. We have cinnamon rolls or biscuits or smoothies or something else yummy and fun. Anyways though, this past Friday was probably the best Friday yet. Ryan actually slept in!!! He's usually up about 7:30, but on Friday I rolled over and it was 8:08 and still no peeps. After getting up to check he was okay, I got back into bed and enjoyed laying there and then reading for a little while. Ryan didn't get up until about 8:45. I can't tell you how much I miss my lazy mornings. I think this was the first morning I had slept in and woken up completely on my own since Ryan was born! Yes, he's worth every lost minute of sleep I've had, but boy it was sure nice to get that extra sleep on Friday.

New things everyday

Ha, when you saw that title I bet you were expecting something new and exciting that Ryan did today. Well sorry to disappoint, but it was me who learned something new. Coleson taught me how to do a slideshow with my pictures, so here's hoping it works right. This is just a fun slideshow highlighting some of Ryan's life. And yes, there are decent gaps in between where I lost my pictures when the external harddrive died (yes I cried that day). But anyways without further delay, sit back and relax and enjoy our memories...



Okay, phew, that was scary there for a moment, but I figured it out! Maybe that'll teach me to write a blog about all the cool stuff I can do before I actually prove that I can do it. :)

Tennis Fest

So Mom and I played in our tennis tournament all weekend long! We had a match Thursday night, Friday night, two on Saturday, and two on Sunday. It was really fun and we played pretty good if I do say so myself (and since it's my blog, I get to say so!). We won our little bracket and played in the division playoffs. While we got beat pretty soundly there, it was nonetheless a lot of fun. And hey, we did finish second and we even got a fancy little glass plaque thingy to show off proudly (as demonstrated in the photo below). Ryan did great and was our biggest fan! We also appreciate Coleson and Dad and Jim for cheering us on. And thanks to Nana & Pop-pop for watching Sammy all weekend and for hanging with Ryan on Sunday morning. We had a wonderful time, and yes, I even wore cutesy little tennis outfits!

synchronized diving follow-up

How is it that baseball and softball are being removed from the olympics, while something so utterly gratuitous as "synchronized diving" remains? If you can make a competition out of two people diving at the same time, why stop there? What about synchronized pole vaulting, or synchronized hurdles?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing the athletes here. Like I said, they are fair more athletic and committed than I'll ever be; I just find it an odd sport. But I was reading a blog on yahoo sports (I'd like to point out is the first time I've read it - I rarely aimlessly surf the internet - I do have a life) and I found the above quote. I thought it interesting considering I just blogged about it myself. So there, I'm ahead of the curve. Or something like that. Anyways, back to my aforementioned life. :)

Babies, Fuze, Olympics, & Tennis

Well the Chases have had a pretty good week thus far. On Monday, Ryan and I went and hung out with some moms and babies and had a great time. It's fun to get out a little and be social with other people who are experiencing what you are too. I love that we are blessed with so many friends and young families in our lives. And Tuesday afternoon we got to hang out with / babysit another baby (a girl believe it or not!).

Tuesday night was the first Fuze of the new school year. Coleson and I have been plugged in with the 10th graders and we are super excited. I must admit I was a little nervous since I've never really hung out with students, but I think it went great and we have a good group of kids. I'm looking forward to getting to know them better and being a part of their lives. I'm also happy to hang out with Crystal and Rachel; student ministry adults rock!

Other than that, we've been chilling and watching the Olympics on tv. Actually we haven't really watched that many events - all the good stuff starts too late and I can't stay awake! Does anyone else think that synchronized diving is a bit odd? Who originally thought it up and decided to make it a sport? I suppose I shouldn't knock it too much though, even if it's weird those athletes are a lot more motivated and in better shape then I'll ever be!

Mom and I are playing in a tennis tournament that starts tonight. Wish us luck! It should be lots of fun - we play four matches over the next three days, followed by a nice dinner catered by Outback. And if we are awesome enough, we'll play again on Sunday in the playoffs.

Noah's 1st Birthday!

Happy Birthday Noah! It's hard to believe it's already been a year! It's been so much fun watching all the babies grow and learn new things and reach exciting milestones, and yet it's so sad too. It's gone so fast, and seeing Noah turn one reminds me that my baby's not that far behind. But we've had a great year and I wouldn't trade any of it for anything. We've been blessed to have so many other babies in our lives to have fun with and help us through and compare notes with and encourage each other. I love being a mom and being a family and having a son!

But, anyways, back to Noah! Thanks for inviting us to your super special party. We had a great time at the pool and watching you eat cake. I'm not sure why, but I think there's something really cool about watching a baby devour his first bites of cake. It's so fun and innocent I guess. We had a great time hanging out and visiting with our growth groupies; Ryan especially liked Jordan. He reached out to him and let Jordan carry him around and play with him for quite a while. He also reached for Anna too. It was nice to see Ryan maybe getting past a little of his seperation anxiety!

Ryan and his new buddy Jordan ~ moms & babies

Angela, more moms, & babies ~ Ryan with the birthday boy

Happy Birthday Dad!

My Dad's birthday was yesterday, so happy birthday! We celebrated by playing some tennis together. Dad and his friend Jim are playing together in a tournament next weekend, as are my mom and I. So we recruited some volunteers and had a great time practicing. It's fun to play tennis, but I also really love to watch good tennis. Dad & Jim and Coleson & Jay played an amazing three sets of tennis including a couple tie-breakers. It was a beautiful morning and a super fun time. After tennis, we enjoyed a yummy lunch at Beef O'Brady's. Happy Birthday Dad; I hope you had a great day! We love you!

Rhode Island

Ryan and I just spent a long weekend in Weekapaug RI. It was Ryan's first plane trip and he actually did pretty well; I was happy. He thoroughly enjoyed reading the passenger safety instructions over and over. He also liked to stand up and shake the seat in front of us (I did try to minimize this as much as possible), play with the arm rest, and look out the window. The surprise new toy phone was no fun compared to exploring what the plane had to offer. A special thanks to Aunt Sarah for sitting with us and helping us out tons! I don't think I could have done it without her.
Weekapaug was very nice. We stayed in the same house that Grandma has rented every August for probably fifty years. It was great to spent time with her and watch her and Ryan interact. One of the highlights for me was watching Grandma feed her first great-grandchild. I'm really glad we made the trip and I think she was too. We also enjoyed an afternoon at the beach. They had bought Ryan a babypool and he lounged around in that and had a great time, especially with his Granddad. We also spent time with Uncle Tyler, Granddad and Jo-Ann, great-aunt Betty, great-uncle John, great-uncle Rick, great-aunt Cheryl, and cousins Chris, Amy, and Dan (or are they second cousins? or are they once removed? I don't know, so I call them all cousins!). Unfortunately cousin Ricky couldn't make it, but I know the dogs were glad he stayed home! Thanks to every one up there for hanging out with us and helping me out a lot! Thanks for flying us up there, feeding us lots of yummy meals, and having a pack-n-play & high chair ready for Ryan. It was also wonderful to have so many willing volunteers to help feed Ryan, take him on stroller rides, and help him nap (where were ya'll at 4 am though?!). The only down side was Ryan got a big time sniffly nose and he didn't sleep well at all. Which of course meant that I didn't sleep either, so we were very happy to be back in our own beds!

Laura + Brian

My baby sister is engaged! We are super happy for them! If you haven't heard it yet, here's the story in her own words:
As most of you know by now, Brian and I are ENGAGED!! He tricked me last night into saying we were going to a fancy restaurant for dinner, so I dressed up in a dress! As we were leaving for our late reservations (8:45) we were walking to the car and he told me we weren't actually going to the car but around back to the back porch. He had set up a roses, candles, string lights, etc. He cooked me a great dinner and we sat and talked and had wine for a long time. At about 11 pm he told me he had a present for me. He went upstairs and brought back a wrapped up letter. The letter told me all about his love for me and he listed his promises to me and at the end it said "I need to ask you one very important question though, so, at this time, please do me the honor of standing up and taking my hand."At this point I knew he was going to ask me, so I stood up and he got on one knee and asked me. Of course I said yes!!!We wish you lots of love and happiness!! We are excited for you both! Brian, welcome to the family!

   

Weekapaug

Ryan and I are headed up to Weekapaug RI this weekend. We are super excited to see Ryan's great-grandma, as well as aunts and uncles and grandpa Clay and Jo-Ann! Unfortunately Coleson will not be able to go with us. I am a little worried about the plane ride since it's our first time on a plane and our first trip without Coleson. But I'm sure it will go smoothly and we'll have Aunt Sarah with us for lots of help and support. I'm just praying and hoping we can get everything we need on the plane without too much hassle and with no extra charges! After our family breakfast this morning (at Chick-fil-a!), we went to Walmart and picked out a new toy for Ryan that he won't see until he gets on the plane. Hopefully that, combined with cheerios, will make for an okay ride! We are really looking forward to seeing everyone up north and hanging out on the beach. We'll be back Tuesday night and we'll catch up with ya'll then! And if you see Coleson this weekend, be sure to say hey in case he's lonely :)