Better late than never

OK... it's taken me forever to update this blog and what a month (ok...month and a half) it has been. I'm just going to mention the highlights and then get back into blogging more consistently so I don't get too overwhelmed and then neglect the things that are happening now.

Highlights:
Trip to New York
Chase's first trip on an airplane! He did great! On his trip home he charmed Andie MacDowell. She thought he was adorable:)
Chase saw most of our New York family: G-GMa and G-GPa (Great grandma and Great grandpa Nyland) They loved him! G-GMa gave Chase lots of kisses.
Uncle Don, Francois and Paula; Aunt Wilma. We enjoyed lunch together at Uncle Don's house. They each had some Chase time.
The Dykman crew- we crashed Jonathan's party at Aunt Betty and Uncle Len's house. We also saw our newest cousin Jessica Lynn.
Gramy showed Chase off to her friends, except we missed church because I (Laura) was sick.
We got to hang out with Gramy, Pop Pop, Uncle Craig and Alexis. Everyone wanted to hold him and love on him. We also got together with Mom's friends: The Pitfick family, Heather, Andrea and Marin.
Back to work
Mom (Laura) went back to work and I (Chase) went to daycare on November 17th. Chase didn't like the first day... he screamed when he came home for a couple of hours but ever since then he has adjusted really well.
Myself on the other hand had a hard time adjusting getting back to work and am really thankful that I transferred to a part time position at Mission's Health Education Center. I'm still learning about the new position but so far I love it.

Chase is really experiencing life and reacting to the world around him. He is so alert and he is SO much fun to watch. See what I mean...

He is teething as evidenced by two little white nubs on his bottom gums. We first saw them on Saturday 12/13 when Nana Sandy got a glimpse of them and felt them with her finger to confirm:) Then we all put our fingers in his mouth (after washing our hands of course). We got such a kick out of it. I felt a little sad watching my little honey grow up so fast. Isn't he sweet!

We were at Aunt Tara's house for a CAbi Clothing with Monica Jenkerson when we saw Chase's teeth. The clothes were highlighted at our CMCS production. Below is a picture of our family in our roles... Troy was Jesus, Chase was a baby in the department store scene and I was in the fashion show. Of course Santa enjoyed holding Chase too! We had lots of fun, it was a great production.

So I apologize for not writing but as you can see we have had a busy month! This should get everyone up to date so now all I have to do is continue- maybe I will give myself a break and try for one entry a week... hope that is okay:)

2 Months

Chase turned 2 months old on October 25th.  He is growing so fast.  He is looking around and checking out the world around him.  We had a 2 month birthday ice cream scoop to celebrate.  He also had his 2 month doctors appointment.  He is 24 inches long and 12 pounds.  He is in the 90th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight. He's long and lean.  

On October 28th it snowed in Asheville.  Chase's first snowfall.  We went to Barnardsville with the Pauline, Jeremy, Joshua, Caleb and Micah to take pictures.  Dad (Troy) took these pictures of us.  It was cold but Chase had a warm, cozy, snuggly that Joanne gave him.  It's still a little big on him but it was just what he needed.  

These are the latest pictures we have of Chase.  I hope you enjoy!  We will be posting pictures of his first Halloween soon.  Chase does have a Dad, its just that he takes all the pictures :)

Contest

My friend Jill sent me an email to sign up for a contest to win a breastpump.  I have to post on my blog for a second chance to win.  Here is her website if you are interested in winning...  

http://www.breastfeeding123.com/win-a-breast-pump-bpa-free-bottles-nursing-reminder-bracelet-and-nursing-pads/#comment-92782

You should check out her website for any breastfeeding questions you have.  We are going to update more later with some great pics of Chase.  He turned 2 months old on the 25th.  It was also the first day he giggled.  It was really cute.  He is growing so fast!!!  

Biltmore Estate

Troy, Chase, and I went to the Biltmore Estate with the Hustad family on Saturday.  We took lots of pictures and had a wonderful lunch together.  The estate is such a great location and it is so close to us.  We are so blessed to be living here.  We can't wait to ride our bikes together and show Chase the animals at the farm.  Here is a preview of what our Christmas pictures may be... unless we take another one that is better.

This was the first cold day in Asheville.  It seems to have gone from summer to winter in one day.  Chase didn't like being unwrapped but managed to give us a slight smile in his cute outfit. You can see one of his dimples.  

Saturday night we went to the Heiny's house for Joshua's 4th birthday.  They had an inflatable for the kids and they loved it!  Joshua got a Thomas the Train bicycle.  He loved it.  Boys are so cute... girls are too, but I just keep thinking how fun it will be when Chase will be able to ride a bike too.  We had another great weekend :)

MOPS

Today Chase and I went to MOPS.  What a great meeting.  Chase did very well.  Dawn Keel, Denise Edwards, and a friend Karen all had a chance to hold Chase.  They allowed me to sit and listen to the speaker who was very good.  She had great points on character building.  Words of encouragement have always been important to me.  Building people up is necessary in a world that tends to tear people down.  I can't imagine Chase coming home from school upset because of what other kids are saying to him.  That would tear me apart.  So the best thing I can do is teach him to build up those around him.  I guess I have some time since he can't talk yet :)  I can't believe I am even thinking about those kind of things.  

I also showed Chase off to my coworkers.  He had many chances to enjoy loving hugs from all.  It's going to be hard to go back to work and bring him to child care :(

I added a new feature to Chase's blog to include friends.  We included Lisa Peretti and her family which we are excited to be reunited with.  How cool!  Let me know if you want me to include you... 

7 weeks old today!

Chase is 7 weeks old today!  I can't believe it.  Troy and I love him so much.  He is watching his hands, smiling, and sleeping 6 hours at night.  We love watching him sleep.  We have a great picture of him from this evening.

He is such a great baby.  He really only gets upset when he has a dirty diaper or when he is hungry.  But he really can wail when he wants to.  Today he turned the color of his car seat when we went to A.C. Moore for picture frames for his room.  We will show you all the pictures we are going to use when we decide on them.  Troy has been taking a lot of shots.  I still can't believe its been 7 weeks. 

8 hours

Chase slept from 10pm to 6am last night!  Let's see if he does that again!  He is so precious to us.  God is Awesome! He gave us the most wonderful gift!  More pictures to come, Troy is deploying and I haven't been ale to figure out how to do it yet...

Best Baby Award

Chase won the best baby award today. He was perfect all day. Bryn Kennedy came over with Mariana, we had lunch, and went on a walk around the neighborhood. When they went home Chase took a nap and woke up smiling. He cooed a little and had a snack. Then Aunt Tara and Uncle Jonathan came over and he slept on Tara's shoulder. Chase didn't make a peep as Troy and I ate dinner. We actually ate at the same time. When dinner was over we went upstairs for his bath time and he cried just a little but settled down pretty fast. Troy read to him as I fed him and 10 minutes later he was sound asleep. Chase usually takes a good half hour to settle and another to actually fall asleep. It was amazing by 10:00 he was out. He is 6 weeks today... I can't believe it!


This past weekend we watched football, went on walks, and enjoyed visiting with Nana Sandy and Grandpa Drake- those pics are not down loaded yet. We do have some pictures to share with you- from when the Walkers came to visit and Chase in his Sooner outfit. Hope you enjoy!

Emma Walker and Chase

Walker Family and Chase

Mom and Chase in his Sooner outfit

Chase smiles all the time!

Who should I pick ... Sooners or Wolfpack? I think I should go with the team who wins!

One Month

Chase is one month old today! We had a doctor's appointment today and he has grown! He is now 9 pounds 15 ounces. This puts him in the 50th percentile for weight. His length is 22 1/2 inches long, which is th 75th percentile. His head circumference is 16 inches which is the 90th percentile. So he is perfect and very smart! Troy is rocking him in the rocker as I am writing this. We are going to celebrate with cupcakes.

Today I took some videos of our everyday events to show him when he is older. Basically just sleeping, rocking, and sleeping. We will post some pictures of our celebration. :) Can't believe he is one month old!

1 day shy of 4 weeks

Tonight is the night! We are finally putting Chase down in his crib. So far he hasn't made a peep and went down without a sound. Actually as I am writing this, Troy is going upstairs to go peek at him. Not to make sure he is breathing- just to watch him sleep. He is SOOO cute! Troy said he hasn't moved. We have a monitor to hear him but I'm sure he will let us know even without one.

We had a nice weekend. Friday night we went to a Reynolds football game against Tuscola (Troy's high school). We were actually rooting for Reynolds since we are friends with the head coach Shane Laws. They played a great game, unfortunately they lost due to many horrible calls against them. Chase stayed in Waynesville with G-mama and G-daddy. Saturday, Troy and Chase hung out and watched the Wolfpack win a game... (something I haven't seen in a while), while I met up with Bryn Kennedy to check out the Munchkin consignment sale. Today we had a nice walk outside and then G-mama and G-daddy came for a visit. So far we have had an awesome 4 weeks with Chase. We can't believe he will be four weeks old. We will be posting more pictures soon- I just have to get them downloaded from our camera.

New Pictures of Chase

Libby Brady has posted her pictures of Chase.  They are great!  It will be hard to pick our favorites.  The website to see them is www.libbybradyphotography.com Click on client proofing and put in the password of ncstate.  The pictures are only available for 7 days starting today.  Let us know if you want to purchase one.  

This past week has been great.  It has been our first full week of no help- except for the fact that our BFG has provided us with wonderful meals.  It has been such a blessing to just open a package and eat.  The meals have been wonderful.  Thanks to the Guffey's, the Angels, and the Laws!  We are looking forward to the rest of the meals our BFG has planned for us.  We have the best class ever!  

Bryn Kennedy came over for a play date with Marianna this past Tuesday.  We went on a little adventure to Perks, the coffee shop down the block from our house.  Not too far away but enough to say we got out of the house which was a needed break.  The kids did well and so did the mom's.  

This evening I went to a dietetics meeting for 2 hours and Troy took care of Chase.  They both did well, despite Chase's cranky time.  

All right I better go Chase is crankin....

Hello all!

Chase will be 3 weeks old tomorrow.  Can you believe it?  Troy and I certainly can't.  It feels like I was having contractions yesterday.  

Last Sunday we had a special visit with my cousins  the D'Ambra family and Linda Plott and Julia and Amos Rich.   I have a picture with Susan my cousin that will be posted.  It was nice to see them- especially Charlotte and Seany!  It was also great to see Amos.  He is growing so fast.  Chase and Amos will be great friends!  

From 9/14/08

Well, last week Joanne stayed with us for 4 days.  We had such a great time.  We went to Asheville and walked around downtown.  Chase didn't make a peep and it was fun to get out of the house.  We went on little adventures each day Joanne was here.  We spent 3 hours in Babies R Us to get things for Chase.  One of my favorite things was a pee-pee tee-pee for when Chase goes outside of his diaper.  It seems as soon as his diaper comes off he has to pee:).   Mom and Dad are learning to take cover.  Joanne and I also went out to lunch at Salsa's.  Mommy's favorite restaurant.  Chase got tons of compliments.  I was proud.  It was sad when Joanne had to leave.  I'm sure it was hard for her to leave her 3 girls (Sarah, Kiersten, and Casey) and her husband Chris.  Thank you Chris, Carol, Barbara and Bruce for helping babysit.  I cherished the moments I had with Joanne.  She helped a lot- especially when she took late night shifts for me, fed me, and held Chase when I took naps.  

Daddy had a busy week with Carolina Connect and DigitalChalk but he was able to unwind on Saturday.  Chase slept on him for 3 hours!  Daddy enjoyed it as much as Chase.  Last night we went on a walk and realized there was a bike race right in our development.  We had no idea it was a block away.  We took some pictures of Chase in his stroller.  He looks so cute.

From 9/14/08

Well Chase is calling.  I will try to update as I can!  

Love to all from Laura, Troy and Chase!

P.S.

Check out this website: http://www.katycookproofing.com/darkroom/view/default.asp?darkroom/client/chase/

Katy Cook took some photo's ( www.katycookphotography.com ) at the hospital and created a slideshow!  It's great!

Chase's Blog

Well, we are a technology family and Daddy has created a blog for Chase. This will be great to keep everyone updated since we are spread out around the country. We want everyone to know Chase and its a great way to document all of his achievements. It's amazing to think how fast he will grow especially since he is already 12 days old. It feels like I was just on my labor inducing walks with Troy.

Today was one of our first day's without any help from our family (actually that is not entirely true) Grandpa Tolle (G-Daddy) came by for an hour after a meeting at church and held Chase. It's been wonderful to have all the help we have had. My Mom, Dad, and Uncle Craig stayed with us for Chase's first week of life and Troy's Mom stayed with us for the second week.

Today, we had a nice relaxing day filled with poopy diapers and spit up. We sang together and Chase and Daddy had arm wrestling matches. We are trying to teach Chase about his hands.

We found out yesterday that Chase is now 8 pounds and 1 ounce at his 2 week appointment (actually 11 days since birth). We are very happy with that especially since it is so hard to know how much he is eating when you breastfeed. Chase is a perfectly healthy little boy!

We also found out from Aunt Tara that Libby Brady has posted Chase's pictures that were taken on Wednesday. We had such a great time with Libby. She is so patient! It was hard for Chase to settle down but once he did Libby got some great shots. You can see the pictures on her blog.
We are so excited to see the rest of them. Thank you Libby!

Well that is about it. Please keep this as one of your favorites to find out the latest about Chase!