Seriously, 2011 already? What the...!

I CANNOT believe we are already in 2011! It feels like I just found out I was pregnant (this was last January)... but i've already had that baby & now 2011 has stepped in! What in the world. I really am an adult now. There's no sense of time from here on out, especially with the little guy! Well hopefully all of you have made those new year's resolutions... some may think it's cheesy but I do it ever year. Even if I don't really reach that goal (which happens about half the time) at least I was motivated to do it for a couple weeks, right? I always pick three goals... one physical, one spiritual, and one in building character. Here's my 3:

1. Lose that left over pregnancy weight (about 15 lbs)

2. Share the gospel with someone new (this is hard being a stay at home mom & not really meeting new people)

3. Develop more patience

These seem attainable, I can do it.

Our Christmas was pretty good-eventful. Christmas Eve consisted of a "sack lunch dinner" which we do with the Lowes (this is symbolic of the humble birth Christ had)... then we headed over to my side's Christmas Eve extravaganza at my parents house. After all the relatives were gone, me, Jarom, mom, dad, Landon & Chase opened our one "Christmas Eve gift" which is our tradition. Christmas morning we opened gifts with the Lowes... most of the gifts were to Chase. I'm ok with that :). Then that evening we went to my parents house for dinner & then opened presents. Overall, we racked in the gifts pretty good.

Landon's top 2 gifts : the 32" Vizio TV, and some skullcandy headphones. My top 2 : scrapbook materials galore & my Mark Mabry calendar. Chase's top 2 : a homemade toy chest from my dad & his cross-stitched stocking from Landon's mom.

Here's the highlights...

His stocking

His Air Jordan outfit from his Aunt Britt & Uncle Chad

Handmade toy chest from my dad

proud new owner of the vizio for our bedroom

Christmas Eve we went to the Wildlife World Zoo. Chase was so cute & funny... he was staring at everything...so amused by it all!

The good stuff...

I'm pretty sure ur not supposed to do that! :)

Lovin' the zebra


My hott boys



Our little family

starin' at the stingrays

ready for some fun at the zoo!

I would write about our New Year's Eve but it really wasn't anything exciting. I went to bed with Chase after he ate so.. Happy New Year's! New Year's morning though we ate at IHOP with my family...it's tradition :)... start the new year with a good breakfast!

I know this year will be eventful just as any other year. Lots of exciting things are already in store (Jarom going on his mission, Nick & Nicky's baby, maybe other babies..?? who knows!)... and i'm sure many more are that the Lord will surprise us with.

Happy New Year to you ALL!

Chase's Blessing & Haircut

Chase's blessing was the past Sunday (the 19th). Landon did such an amazing job. I love our sweet little family.

Also, we cut Chase's hair because it was falling out and started to look like a tupee' (sp?). He looks so much more like Landon now. It freaks me out sometimes! Here's the before and after!

Milestones

Watching my precious little baby grow is the most intruiging experience i've ever had. It's seriously amazing the progression babies make every week & even every day. They are truly the Lord's little angels sent here to remind us of what this life is all about. Being a mom has totally changed the way I think about the world. Nothing else matters but taking care of this little guy & doing my best to be a teacher & example to him. He makes me so happy. His bashful little smile lights up my day in an instant. His attempt to laugh puts a huge grin on my face. This life is all about the people we love & doing all we can to show them that. Landon & I are so grateful to be Chase's parents & will always try our hardest to give him the best life we can possibly provide. He's truly the light of our life. We feel so incredibly blessed to know him & to have the opportunity to be there every step of his development.

Chase smiles a lot now. He gets all shy & cute when he does it too. He tries to laugh but doesn't quite know how yet. It's so cute to hear though. It's so fun to smile at him & he'll smile back. He is very attentive to the things around him. He stares at bright colors now. He also loves to stare at the temple picture in our living room. Yesterday he finally figured out how to hit the little dangly toys on the floor gym. And he also took his first 20 minute nap in his own crib. (trying to get him to eventually sleep there at night...). He loves taking baths-probably because the water is warm. He looks at books when I read them to him. He rarely ever cries-he's just perfect! He's a big boy cause he eats a lot & he's tall for his age too. But he's a happy healthy baby. Love him so much.

That's our baby update. :)

We're excited for the Holidays!

Our New Life

We just love our little guy! Here's the lastest pics...

Professionally taken by Gates (top & bottom)

3rd Cousins! Only 5 days apart in age!
Nap & snuggle time

I could post a million more pics but...most of you see my facebook go check there!

Chase is a growing boy! He's about 9 1/2 lbs now and seems to never wanna stop eating. I can't fit my hand around his thighs anymore. He's gonna be a chunker. Landon encourages that. lol. He's getting really strong & holds his head up pretty good with a little support. He has the cutest cry EVER & he lets me sleep 3 hours at a time at night! (This is very nice compared to his first two weeks). We just love him to death & can't get enough of him.

Other news in our life-

Landon is getting knee surgery AGAIN but on his right knee this time. He tore is ACL playing basketball a couple weeks ago. This will be his 3rd knee surgery in 2 years! I swear he's going to be crippled after this. So I get to take care of TWO babies this weekend! Woo Hoo! His recovery time will be longer than his other surgeries since its his ACL and not his miniscus. Not too cool for our bank account... we're still trying to breathe from his last surgery & from the baby! That's alright though, we'll make it through.

Uhmmm... I don't really think there's more news actually. Lol. I just stay at home all day & play with Chase & when Landon comes home we all party together.

Oh-I get to finally go to the gym this weekend. This is a big deal for me. I love the gym & hiking & being active & I haven't been able to for the past 10 months! I'm soo ready to get back into it & lose 25 lbs! YEAH! I'm gonna do it. I'm so determined. I just want to wear my jeans... that's all I want. I don't want anything for Christmas I just wanna wear my clothes :) Welp I think that's it!

Too-da-loo!

Sweet Angel Baby

As most of you know, our sweet little baby boy Chase was born on September 21st, 2010. Me and Landon both feel so complete with him here & have never been happier. He's such an innocent little angel straight from heaven. I cannot believe we are PARENTS! It feels so natural for us though.

My labor was sort of what I expected. We were called into the hospital late Monday night (the 20th) around 10:30pm. They hooked me up to my IV and began the petosin (sp?). Around 4:30 am I was only dialated 2-3 cms and a doctor came in and broke my water. Up until this point the contractions were bearable but let me tell you that was the only point I cried (other than seeing my baby for the first time) because it hurt so bad for the doctor to break my water. It was disgusting. Around 5 am I couldn't take it so I was ready for my epidural. Landon watched me get it and wanted to barf. haha. After that I felt great. Just wanted to sleep. So around 7am I was dialted almost 4cms and my doctor told me I should only dialate 1cm/hr. That put us around 2pm for my expected time to push. Well whattaya know at 9am my doctor came to check on me and I was completely dialted! This was the time to push. Landon & I looked at each other in shock but we were ready. So i pushed for about 45 mins (along with barfing) and at 9:52am Chase was born. He was 8lbs, 2 oz, 21 inches long! Which is HUGE for a 36 week pregnancy! (Im thinking I might have gotten my due date wrong??). It was so joyous to see him & hear his cry. It made me cry. I couldn't believe he was finally here and i've been attached to him ever since. I feel like a psycho overprotective mom about everything. lol. Other than getting sealed to Landon, his birth was the happiest day of our life. We are so excited to raise him.

So far he is a really good baby. His head is strong (he's already began to lift it) and his arms and legs are muscular. He doesn't cry much and i've finally gotten him on somewhat of a schedule of feeding every 3 hours. He makes the cutest sounds and facial expressions. Landon likes to kiss his face & Chase will try to fight him away. Anyway, enough with this i'll show you pictures.

Lowe Family Reunion

Here's just a few pics from the Lowe Family Reunion we just went to. It's a little unorganized since I don't know how to arrange pictures on here...so just deal with it! :) The reunion was up in Utah in Zion National Park on a Ranch Resort. It was definately a RESORT. There were a million activities you could do. Obviously I couldn't do much, so that's why Landons in most of the pics.

Whats up with the Lowes?

Here's just the latest on what's been going on. All I have to say is I hate AZ right now- the heat is killing me. I refuse to go outside unless I HAVE to! :) ok. There's my venting, on to the pictures.

We bought a TRUCK! I love it. Isn't it cute?...I mean...masculine?
The Sunday after we moved, Landon was searching for his church shoes...this is what happened...He finally found them in my sea of flip-flops.

Landon had knee surgery about 10 days ago... here's him before he got knocked out! He's doing well & is up and walking around. He'll start physical therapy soon.
No one really knows what Landon does for work- so here's a little glimpse

I am 6.5 months pregnant!

And last, here is our sweet little boy's crib & bedding that Landon set up. Funny thing is he set up the crib in the living room (this probably took about an hour & a half)... then when we tried to move it to the baby's room it DIDNT FIT THROUGH THE DOOR!! So..he had to take it apart, bring it into the babys room, & re-assemble.

Sorry i'm not as detailed as usual. Just not up for it this time! I can feel the heat coming through the window next to me & I can't handle it. So that's why this is short & sweet. I want to live in the pool all day or walk around naked. haha.