HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY CHASE!

Chase turns 1 on Wednesday (November 10th) and we threw him a bash at our house on Saturday with 30+ of our friends and all their kiddos! We got tons of food, tons of wine and beer (no liquor with the kids in sight because some in this crew can get out of HAND!), an adorable Brobee cake (apparently Chase does not like cake), and character cupcakes (I attempted to make some but was overwhelmed with all I had to do so I made 7 character ones and the rest just had m&ms on them but the kids seemed to like it). We had a chocolate fountain for the kids with yummy marshmellows and fruit to dip, a bounce house with a slide in it and little obstacles, ladder golf for the dads (um yah which was AWESOME b/c I could not get Cory to do anything one he started playing), and etc. It was so nice to get to see all our friends together and all the kids were so much fun and surprisingly all well behaved! We cannot wait until we get an excuse to throw another party!!

Chase’s birthday is so special to us and it really did mean a lot to get to celebrate it! Not only is it the anniversary of his birth but it’s also a reminder that we made it through the first year! WHOO HOO! One day when Chase gets older and he reads this blog, we would want him to know that we are so blessed to have him in our lives and we cannot even imagine what life was like before we had him!! We love you dearly baby Chase!!!

PS-I am also attaching a picture of Chase in his Halloween Costume. He was a monster and he wore his costume for a whopping 5 minutes and freaked out! HAHA!

We made it!

I know, I know, its been a while since I updated the blog but it's been hectic! One word of advice when moving across the country with a 9 month old, a cat, and a dog, DON'T DO IT! I recommend anyone traveling with this type of group to either fly or do not move at all lol. The worst part was the minimal amount of hotels from Florida to Texas that allow pets (mostly motel types). Sneaking in a cat and a dog that tends to bark at the sound of a pin dropping is not ideal when you have a little baby as well. I was hoping this trip would be like a fun road trip but we could not really leave the pets at the hotel in fear of them getting caught and it was too much to sight-see with all three of them. There's not very many places to go with pets and a baby if you are not familiar with a city. This being said, we ended up only making two of our three scheduled stops and got into Dallas a day early.

We love our new home in Frisco and love the area. EVERYTHING is within 10 minutes from us. Not to mention everything really is bigger in Texas. Our grocery store is so big it even sells furniture and decorative stuff!!

Well, that's it for now. I am posting some pics until I blog again......

Ode to Florida-The Good, the Bad, AND the Ugly

ITS MOVING DAY!!! Today the movers (consisting of three guys), Rob, Loren (who spent the night and woke up with Chase--she was so excited), and KP came to help move all our stuff out. Since we were pretty neurotic (or I should say I AM neurotic since everytime I have moved stuff, something has gotten ruined) and pre-packed/moved everything down to the first floor and already had majority of the stuff wrapped that needed to be, it took about 2 1/2 - 3 hours for 6 guys to move everything out of our house. They were so fast and that truck was packed to the roof!! It was so weird to see our three story townhome empty but it was so exciting to drive away from it finally considering we have wanted to move forever! Tomorrow is our last day in Florida and then we make our journey back to Texas (first family road trip---we will see how Chase handles that!)...our itenerary is as follows: First stop Tallahassee, then New Orleans and finally Shreveport! WHOO HOOO!!! I will post another entry once the EAGLE has landed!! Stay tuned...

I did have some final words about the place we have called home over the past 6 years:

OH Florida, I won't miss your extremely humid weather.
I won't miss your insanely rude people...most of which aren't even from south florida.
I won't miss people in the service industry (including all restaurant servers, people who work in retail, etc.) whom think anything they do is going out of there way. Most of which don't even say "hi, how are you, can I help you, or thank you"
I won't miss the totally awful drivers. I don't think anyone takes drivers ed. No one knows anything about right of way and when an ambulance comes, its literally like ants scattering around!
I won't miss the lack of zoning and the super inflated home prices. Hence, our townhome.
I won't miss the unhealthy food choices. Moving to Florida definitely makes you gain your freshman 15!

What I will miss is being able to go to the beach at the drop of a hat. Nothing is more relaxing than going to the beach or eating lunch or dinner whenever you feel like it. Its like your on Vacation 24-7.
I will miss South Beach and West Palm Beach. It was fun whenever we ventured out that way.
I will miss all the fun outdoor stuff to do. There's all kinds of neat things to see.
And lastly, I will miss all the wonderful friends we have made, some from Texas, one from Tennessee (and she knows who she is), some from the Northeast, and a Virginian (our mountain man) and not to mention those native floridians (there's not very many of them here--they are like Dinosaurs).

Chase is Airborne!

We had our first family vacay on Thursday July 1st! We went to Dallas to see all our friends and family and introduce everyone to our little boy! The adventure started when we got to the airport. For those of you who don't know, we had Muppet with us (yes, I know, a 7 1/2 month old AND a dog-- this confirms we really are nuts!!). Now, anyone traveling with a small child knows there is extra gear like an umbrella stroller, bottles, diapers, toys, etc, throw in a dog and you really got your hands full! Just maneuvering through security was crazy! Not to mention how rude the people/TSA is at Fort Lauderdale International Airport! By the time we made it through security, there were so many people backed up in line behind us! I will never be impatient or annoyed when there is a family in front of me because now I know (and a word to the wise-- you will all be there someday if you have not already! That is unless you decide not to fly with a small child--I recommend not flying until your child is 5 years old....haha just kidding!). So, we get through security and grab a bite to eat then find a desolate place to sit. Already muppet was in a tizzy! I decided to let her out because I felt there is no need to keep her in her carrier at the airport. Bad idea! Shortly after freeing her, she got into a barking war with some pomeranion at the gate across from ours. Fun stuff! In her defense, the other dog started it. Meanwhile, Cory had the baby calm for the time being by pushing him back and forth in his umbrella stroller. I, on the other had, was already dreading the flight ahead. We were the first to board the plane with all the other babies and wheel chair people. As we got situated Chase seemed okay. Normally, my son has a very hard time sitting still, so as more and more people board he wanted to move around and be on the floor so he can roll around. His good mood went from good to very bad quickly. He was twisting in my arms then in Cory's - oh man and my nerves are pretty much racked already when I board a flight! By the time the plane took off, Chase fell asleep in my arms (talk about an arm cramp) and muppet was out like a light! Smooth sailing, right? Not so fast! The wonderful flight attendant woke Chase up by yelling -and I mean YELLING what we would like to drink. She must have been blind as a bat not to see the big baby sleeping in my little arms. The remainder of the flight I made sure to give her the stink eye for the distress she brought into my life. Chase was up another 45 minutes wanting to squirm and move around. Cory had to walk him up and down the aisles until finally I physically rocked him back to sleep and that he did until we got to the gate at DFW. Once we got to Dallas, the real adventure began! Cory's mom picked us up and we drove to Richardson for mid-afternoon lunch with Cory's Dad. Then drove all the way to Gainesville to his parent's lakehouse where we posted up until Monday. Friends and family came to see Chase on the 3rd and some stayed until the 4th. During fireworks on the 4th (their neighbors go all out), I thought for sure Chase would wake up but nope the little guy slept through the whole thing (it seriously sounded like WWII in his room). On Monday we headed back to Dallas and literally every single day for the next week consisted of us looking for properties to rent or buy and having lunch with a friend or two, then another activity with another friend or group of friends. We had two bbqs on the weekend and spent lots of time with family. I was sooo tired by the time we got back to Florida that I now need a vacation!! In other news, Chase now crawls. Oh yes, I couldn't wait for him to crawl (he started the day after we got back) and now I regret it (and believe me, I was warned)! LOL. It is really cool to watch and I am proud of him but I cannot get anything done!! He is the only one crawling in his mommy and me class. The other day, he moved all the baby furniture around the mat, kept crawling away from me and protesting when I would move him back. You can see the fear in the other moms' eyes with how active he is. I think they now realize that they should be happy that their little babies just sit there and don't move. HAHA!

Chase's First Haircut-Look'n Good!

Chase had his first haircut at Lollipop Kids and was a good little sport! He, luckily, did not cry or freak out , mostly because he was distracted and had no clue he was getting his hair cut. He did look back at the lady now and then suspiciously but luckily he never caught on!

Mommy and ME

Chase and I had our very first Mommy and Me Class last Thursday! We signed up at the Little Flower Montesorri School down the street and now are commited to once a week until mid August. I must say I was a little skeptical but it was fun and the other moms are really nice. (Not to mention it's nice for me to get out and have adult conversations during the day even if it is about babies.)

The first half of the class the babies sit or scoot around and play with toys as the moms sit and chat. There was a little ballpit in the middle of the mat which Chase enjoyed. He also seemed a little smitten with a little girl that has a twin brother. At one point he was next to her in the ballpit and kept trying to touch her then looked like he might accidently smack her so I pulled him away from her in fear of embarrassment of having "that" kid. (I can already tell my little CP is going to be a rough boy when he can walk not to mention he's bigger than all the babies in the class.) The next half of the class was songs and props. First, they brought out baby looking workout balls and you put the baby on it and roll their tummies on it. No idea why? Chase seemed okay with this. I, on the other hand, was getting a workout since my 20 pound baby is not the lightest little guy. While the songs were playing, Chase made the weirdest faces like he thought he was way too cool for them. Ten minutes into the songs and he clearly lost interest. It was very hard to get him to focus but every now and then he would watch the teacher and the other babies in awe. Most of the time he was more interested in bouncing up and down in my arms. Then we put all the babies close to the center in a circle with their heads touching each other and the teacher pulled out a parachute. (You remember these from elementery school, they have handles on the ends and you all sit in a circle.) Well, all the moms stood up and grabbed a handle and waved it up and down. Again, Chase had a look of confusion and at one point I thought he might cry but luckily he did not. There was one little 4 1/2 month old who did cry and two little 7 month olds who ended up getting tangled together and started freaking out and screaming. Then the teacher took the parachute and blew bubbles all around the babies.

All in all, I think Chase enjoyed it and after his second class, he seemed in much better spirits about the whole thing. We even got to make Daddy his first Father's Day present--a picture frame with Chase's footprint.

Chase Goes Swimming for the First Time!

We took Chase to our friends Robert and Loren's pool at the condos where they live. He really was not that happy when we first put him in the water which was a big surprise because he has loved baths since he was born. He kept making whimpering noises at first so we took him out and let him hang out in the cabana and then tried again. This time we made it to where his feet could touch the first step and then we liked it. He was bouncing up and down and he really seems to love his sunglasses. He had so much fun that we can't wait to take him swimming again!!

Chase Goes to the Miami Metro Zoo

There is not much you can do with a little baby so we try to find things that involve us walking him around in his stroller and getting him out and about. I had googled things online as to what we could do this weekend. This led us to the Miami Metro Zoo. I did not know this but the Miami Metro Zoo is one of the best Zoo's, per the review I read, in the country and it totally did live up to my expectations. It's HUGE! We didn't even get to see everything and we were there from 3 pm until they closed at 5 pm. When we first got there it was a little hot and I was concerned about Chase being overheated but the weather actually got really nice the longer we were there and he seemed to be content. We walked around and tried to show him the animals but he was really more in awe of the plants (I think this is because the plants were closer than the animals so he never looked past them). The animals however are so freaking close~ They are maybe 20 meters away and the only thing seperating you from the animals is a ditch that is dug in front of them so they cannot get to you. There were several times that I was a little worried because some animals, especially the lions, looked malnutritioned and were eyeing us like we were dinner! Even the squirrels running around were hungry. There was one point where we sat down at a picnic table in the shade next to a tree so I could feed Chase. There was a squirrel next to us chowing down on a french fry. Well, when he was done with his fry, he decided to jump on our table and start making his way towards Chase and me. I, being the scaredy cat that I am, jumped up (luckily Chase was being fed in his stroller lol). So Cory shoo-ed the squirrel off with his water bottle and the next thing I know the squirrel called in reinforcements. More squirrels were coming down the trees. The same squirrel jumped back on the table and this time does not look scared of even Cory but he shoo-ed him off again after several tries. THEN the squirrel climbed up a tree next to Cory's head and proceeds to pee down the tree (luckily he missed Cory but it was a close call and I was cracking up). I don't know what or who pissed off this squirrel but once we were done feeding Chase, I wanted nothing more than to be far away from this angry little rodent. Anyways, we had fun and enjoyed doing something special with Chase during his first Memorial Day Weekend!!

Puppy Love

Chase's favorite thing to do lately is watch Muppet play with her toys. He just giggles and laughs when he sees her and will stop anything he's doing once he sees her walk passed him. He cannot actually crawl as of yet, but he finds anyway he can to get near her. He rolls and scoots and pushes on his back to get to her. He will even start calling out to her to try to get her attention. Once he accomplishs his goal, he likes to stick his hands or his feet out for her to lick. In fact, he gets such a kick out of anything that involves Muppet. I think he thinks of her as a big stuffed animal. (There's nothing big about her....she's smaller than some of his real stuffed animals lol!) It's actually a blessing for me because I can keep both Muppet and Chase entertained and happy at the same time!

Now when it comes to Lucy, our cat, she has no interest in being near Chase. Once in a while, I will find her going near him very carefully and smelling him but quickly runs once he jerks a leg out or tries to grab her. Lucky for her, Chase can't crawl but I'm sure soon enough, she will be just as annoyed with him as she is Muppet!! LOL!

Party Time

A couple of weeks ago, Chase got invited to his very first birthday party! My friend Carolina's daughter Gabriela turned two last Saturday. She also has a little baby, Marissa who is one week older than Chase. In fact, she was in the same postpartum room a week earlier that I was in after delivery at Holy Cross Hospital. The party was a lot of fun and it was so cute trying to get the two babies to interact. I did notice that little girls and little boys are totally pre-wired at birth. When we first arrived, little Marissa was in her baby saucer, playing calmly and gently touching things. When chase gets in his saucer at home, he's smacking things and rips the hooked toys off and slams the music buttons over and over again. When anyone would hold Marissa, she would sweetly sit there all calm. Meanwhile, Chase was in my lap pulling at the side of the tablecloth lol and smiling at all the women (he's totally a little flirt!). He was starting to get tired because he missed his nap so I tried to put him in Marissa's bed but as I tried to lay him down in the round pink paradise colored bedroom he gave me a look of "uuum this is too girly for me to lay in mom! Don't even think about it!" So we ended up leaving a little early. In other baby news, Chase has two bottom teeth (oh man teething was a nightmare!) and has fully learned how to turn over this month and loves to sleep on his tummy. He's also started eating baby food and loves his peas!! I didn't take pics at the party (rookie mom mistake again) but have posted other pictures! Enjoy!