Crazy...I know...

Pictures taken Dec.2009

~Chase's letter from SANTA!!~

It has been ages....

And I think I will be shocked to find out anyone checks this still...
(except maybe Shannon...)

Life has changed a lot since I wrote last...
Chase has stopped napping... about 8 months ago (2.5 years old) was potty trained about a month before his third birthday, been going to pre-school since September, and is still a VERY active little boy!!

Chase still loves the water, and thinks he can swim unassisted (leaving me a little unnerved.) He went off the diving board (life jacket on & Dad catching him) on his 3rd birthday...
We had his party @ the Aquatic centre, and it was a lot of fun. Chase is still really big into trains (on-going for quite some time now.)
He also has a big interest in babies, and I pretty much have to peel him out of strangers strollers! He is really quite friendly, and is loving making his new friends @ pre-school. I can hardly believe it myself, but Chase has a friend there named "Coral." She is a sweet tiny little thing, and they hang out every day they are there.
The pictures up above are of the first two days of artwork that Chase made at pre-school.
~Coral

His sweet little face...

~ Another Bath Shot ~
~ Chase feeding Doug a treat ~ (the only way Doug will come near him)

~ Chase & Daddy getting ready to go for another walk ~

~ Mom made brownies. Chase licked the bowl ~

So scary...

Before I was a mom, I can remember hearing stories of young children doing things and the parents saying "It just happened so fast." I can also remember thinking "Ya, right, you just weren't watching..."

Now that I have a two year old, I get it. I don't think I am an awful mom, I think I am pretty good at watching what Chase is doing, and yet within arms reach, in my own home, I had been watching him look out my window. I looked away for "just a second" and he had tangled himself up in the living room bamboo blinds cord...It startled me, and I said "Chase" (as loudly as I can,,,) and it startled Chase, he jumped (luckily still on the couch, and not to the ground) and this is the rope burn he ended up with.
Something like this could have ended so much more tragically, and I am so grateful I walked away with this warning...
Three lessons I learned/remembered this day...
1.) Try not to pass judgment, you never know what your situation will bring.
2.) Things really can happen when you look away for "just a second."
3.) Life is so SO precious.

~Coral

Again it has been so long since writing...I seem to have a difficult time keeping up with this, snooping on Facebook, being a mom, cleaning my house, and doing all the other daily things to do..
So what to do? Well, as you can tell, this takes the back burner...But I'll put up some pictures!!

These are pictures of my Grandpa...I thought it fitting...He will be turning 90 on Sunday!!!

Coral

P.S. And one picture of Chase & his Great-Grandpa.

This is for Dobber....

Well I must say that with all the "Facebook" addictions out there, I really had thought that no one ventured away to read this little blog...But to my surprise...Dobber wrote and said that he misses reading up on Chase! So Dobber...thank you, and this is for you!

Well, here it is already 2009, and Chase will be 27 months (exactly) in a couple of days! He is still a big boy, and he continues to amaze me daily, with the things he can do.

He has now for months, known all of his colours, but will play games with you, and see if YOU are paying attention, and will call "blue" "red"..or something like that...If you are watching him when he does that you will notice the little spark in his eyes! He also started calling Ian "Colg" which makes me laugh and laugh. Every now and then he will try and call me "Coral" but it sounds more like "Croo-al."

This winter Chase has found a new love for "Snow Boating" a.k.a tobogganing! Even on our nightly walks, we bring the little toboggan, and he flops in, to be pulled around! Kita loves to chase after it barking and acting like a maniac herself!

Christmas this year was a lot of fun. We went to Spokane from the 19-22nd and Chad met us down there. We took Chase to the carousel in River Front Park, and he loved it!! Chad, Ian, and myself all took Chase once each, so he was in his glory. He walked around the carousel picking out which horse he wanted to ride on each time...

Then we headed up to Cranbrook. Chase got to play his his cousin Makayla for the first time. She was a bit nervous of his boisterous attitude, but warmed up to after a short while. Chase also had a lot of fun playing with Emily, (Chippett) running around the house as fast as the could in circles, while Emily's baby sister Abby watched. Brandy also brought Brooklyn & Riley over! Riley was certainly on a "taking down the tree" mission, however he did not succeed!! We were also lucky enough to see Dana and Angus up at Idlewild on Boxing Day! (There were a few of us who made it up there.) And then as the time got closer to the end of our visit, my family did a big group photo shoot @ the Super Store. (One of my uncles, my brother, and my oldest nephew weren't in the picture though)

Later that night, a few of us got together and went for dinner @ Frank's. It was a nice end to the holidays..and now it's time to start/continue the goals for the new year!

Hope this finds you all well!

~Wishing you the best in 2009!!~

~Coral

Chase's "2 Year" Doc's Appointment

On Tuesday (the 21st) Ian took Chase to his doctors apt. because I had to help out a friend. Of course at this age, he is too big for the pediatric scale so they put him on the regular one with all of his clothes & shoes on...He weighed 33.5lbs. This weight puts him into the 95 percentile! He is 90cm tall, which is the 75 percentile. Chase has notoriously been sturdy from the get go, but the doctor did tell Ian that Chase needs to eat more vegetables, (MY KID HATES VEGGIES!!) and to no longer give him homo milk...to start giving him 2%.

I might note, that just because my boy hates most veggies right now, doesn't mean that we don't offer them...we do, and slowly...he is starting to appreciate broccoli! Phew...

He also said to only give him something to eat when he tells us he is hungry...My kid ALWAYS tells me he is hungry...Has anyone seen him lately...He rarely sits still...He is constantly burning energy!

Anyhow, we don't have to bring Chase back for 6 months to a year. He is healthy and did great at his appointment the only thing he didn't do for the doctor was, he didn't want to open his mouth.

~Coral

Day after Chase's party...

Chase had so much fun "driving" with Daddy...

Did I Mention I Love Black & White Photos!?!?

So you must be thinking it to...My kid is pretty cute hey?!

Chase's 2nd Birthday Party!!

This was the pinyata letting loose!

All in all, there were a total of 14 people that came to Chase's 2nd Birthday Party! (Sadie, Rich, Dustin, Maria, Harlan, Eli, Liz, Kaiden, Jess, Dana, Christine, Ryan, Mattaya, & Ben)

Our little house held up, and I think the adults were just as entertained by the children, as the children were with the toys and eachother. It was a fun day!

~Coral

More Party Pics...

Even More Party Pics..

More pics...

~ Last 3 pictures, thanks to Sadie for taking them.

My boy turns two...

Chase was pretty excited to see his new quad!

Happy 2nd Birthday Handsome!

Guess he can going riding with his Papa & Uncle Don now...

Almost TWO!!!

I can hardly believe looking back, two years ago, that I had not yet met Chase.

Time does weird things to my brain, I really can't recall what my life was like without him...Sure I can obivously recall things like running in to the store without a baby, so much simpler ... But the things I can't recall...I can't imagine anymore what is like to not have that small perfect (and not-so-perfect) little bundle of joy in my life. I had always heard how amazing it is to love a child, and a friend of mine once told me the best way she had heard being a parent described was this: "It is the most."

Being a parent will allow you to love another human being the "most."

It will allow you to worry the "most."

It will be the "most" rewarding.

It will be the "most" challenging.

It will be the "most" hardest thing you have ever done.

It will be able to bring you the "most" joy.

Hmm, so far I agree with it all. But never would change it...Not for anything. There are times (more frequently these days) where Chase challenges my parenting skills, and paitence...But all in all, he is wonderful, and I am glad he picked us to be his parents...

I sure love him...

More of Chase

Chase, is still obsessed with books (which pleases us.)

And this monkey costume is this years Halloween costume!