Thursday, March 26, 2009
Have You Cried Yet Today?
You will for sure now. I came across this blog http://www.thegledhillfamily.blogspot.com/ from cjane (another blog I read). I can't read it without completely sobbing. This family just lost their 11 month old sweet baby girl from congenital heart failure. They document her short life which was mostly spent in the hospital, as well as her death and funeral. I guess it just hits the spot with me because of Chase's heart scare when he was born. My grandma also lost two of her children to heart failure. I just can't even imagine losing a child. I don't think I'm strong enough to ever handle it. I'm a mess right now just from reading the blog about baby Gracie. Her family has so much faith and strength about letting Gracie go. I have so much admiration for this family. Reading the blog reminds me that I don't know how much time I get with my own baby boy. It reminds me to have more patience with him, to spend more time with him, to not worry so much about having a sparkling clean house or all the projects I wish to get done. My time is his time for now. That's the sacrifice mothers make.
Best Friends
Chase just absolutely loves his dog Bentley (his first word was dog, after all). They have some real cute moments together and I just so happened to catch this one on video. Chase is playing with Bentley by stealing Bentley's stuffed duck and running away with it. He is having the time of his life! Even though at times Bentley drives me completely nuts, I am glad we have a dog and that Chase gets to grow up with one. Bentley provides Chase with laughs everyday and I fully support anything that makes my little boy laugh.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Happiest State
Utah was ranked as the happiest state in the US. Maybe it has something to do with all the prescription drugs people are buying illegally (like oxycontin) in Happy Valley. I'm just sayin.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Finally a Success!
On the weekends I try and cook up a storm for Jason since he works too late during the week for me to want to cook anything by the time he gets home. On Saturday night I made a recipe called the World's Best Lasagna-it took about 2-2 1/2 hours of prep time because the sauce was homemade. It wasn't bad but it was kind of a flop, definitely not the world's best. The next day I really was annoyed about the hours I took to prepare a not so great meal and was not in the mood to cook. But I had already defrosted a london broil steak so I couldn't let it go to waste. The previous times I cooked london broil (i've tried the crock pot and the broiler), it always comes out so tough and overcooked. But I finally got it right last night and was so proud of myself I had to document it. After 20 minutes of pounding and tenderizing the meat, 6 hours of marinating, and 12 minutes on my George Foreman grill, my steak came out looking like this with the perfect amount of pink:
So maybe I'm not ready to give up on cooking yet.
I may even make this for Bunco next week. What do you think girls?
So maybe I'm not ready to give up on cooking yet.I may even make this for Bunco next week. What do you think girls?
Our Trip to Mich
I've neglected my blog again. Chase and I (well probably mostly me) spent the week getting back into the swing of things at home. I felt totally unorganized and disoriented and went to bed at 9:30 every night last week because I was completely exhausted. Our trip was really fun though and we can't wait to go back over the summer! We got to Michigan on a Thursday and drove over to Chicago the very next day to see my grandparents. I felt a little bad for Chase, he had to deal with a 4 hour plane ride followed by a 6 hour car ride the very next day. But we managed. Here are the highlights of our trip:
-The best part was just spending time with my grandparents and having homecooked meals by my grandma. We played lots of games and Chase got to know his great-grandparents. He especially loved playing with my grandpa and constantly wanted my grandpa to pick him up.
-We visited the best bakery in the world twice and got lots of donuts.
-We had Chicago deep dish pizza twice
-We visited the very upscale mall by my grandparents house (this mall only has designer stores, pretty much any designer you can think of). Of course, I couldn't afford anything in that mall, or rather, didn't care to spend a couple hundred on one shirt. So we just walked around and let Chase play in the tree house.
-Back in Michigan we ate at California Pizza kitchen and walked around another mall. Took Chase to the pet store which he just loved and went crazy saying dog in his little high-pitched excited voice
-Made ribs, pasta, sugar cookies and chocolate truffle cookies
-Just hung out alot while Chase tore apart my parents house! I'm pretty sure he went through every drawer and cabinet that he could reach.
Here are some pictures from our trip:
Chase with grandma
Chase with his glamourous aunt Brit-Brit. This girl sent 10,000 text messages in the month of December! Maybe she'll bypass that girl who made it on the news for sending 12000 texts in one month.
Playing the piano with grandpa
Playing the piano with Brit (I think he may have some musical talent)
Chase decided he was tired so laid down right over his great-papa's foot!
Chase with his great-papa
The car ride to Chicago-without a dvd player!
-The best part was just spending time with my grandparents and having homecooked meals by my grandma. We played lots of games and Chase got to know his great-grandparents. He especially loved playing with my grandpa and constantly wanted my grandpa to pick him up.
-We visited the best bakery in the world twice and got lots of donuts.
-We had Chicago deep dish pizza twice
-We visited the very upscale mall by my grandparents house (this mall only has designer stores, pretty much any designer you can think of). Of course, I couldn't afford anything in that mall, or rather, didn't care to spend a couple hundred on one shirt. So we just walked around and let Chase play in the tree house.
-Back in Michigan we ate at California Pizza kitchen and walked around another mall. Took Chase to the pet store which he just loved and went crazy saying dog in his little high-pitched excited voice
-Made ribs, pasta, sugar cookies and chocolate truffle cookies
-Just hung out alot while Chase tore apart my parents house! I'm pretty sure he went through every drawer and cabinet that he could reach.
Here are some pictures from our trip:
Chase with grandma
Chase with his glamourous aunt Brit-Brit. This girl sent 10,000 text messages in the month of December! Maybe she'll bypass that girl who made it on the news for sending 12000 texts in one month.
Playing the piano with grandpa
Playing the piano with Brit (I think he may have some musical talent)
Chase decided he was tired so laid down right over his great-papa's foot!
Chase with his great-papa
The car ride to Chicago-without a dvd player!Monday, March 2, 2009
A Crazy Travel Day
I haven't posted in weeks because Chase and I took a fun trip back to Michigan and Chicago to see his grandparents and great-grandparents for 10 days. We got back yesterday afternoon. I thought I'd share with you my travel experience from yesterday. It was interesting. Traveling with a toddler is NOT easy! By the end of the flight I had a splitting headache.
-We got to the airport and checked in. Chase is tired so he is being really good in his stroller. I get about a million stares from people because of my two suitcases, stroller, baby, my big duffel bag carry-on and a carseat on my back. The man behind me was kind enough to roll my suitcases forward for me as we stood waiting in line.
-Made it through security without any issues.
-Our gate is at the very end of Terminal A (which is about a mile long). By the time we made it to the gate, we only had to wait 5 minutes before we got to board our plane. By this time, I am out of breath and sweating like a pig from all the stuff I had to push and carry. Not one person offered to help me board the plane, even though they all stared at me as I struggled with the carseat on my back, a purse, a duffel bag and a baby. By the time I finally made it to my seat, Chase was upside down and practically falling out of my arms. I would have let him walk but it would have taken much longer to get to our seat as Chase would be distracted by everything.
-Chase is bored waiting for take-off (we were late taking off because a huge group of people on my flight were going skiing at Deer Valley so there were a million skis that needed to be loaded). He does his high pitched obnoxious angry scream a few times and cries. I play peek a boo with him using his blanket. I also offer juice and a few items of entertainment, all of which get thrown between Chase's seat and the window.
-We finally take off. Chase falls asleep for about an hour and a half. When he wakes up I turn on his dvd player. It did not entertain him like I thought it would! He was a fussy little fellow. But I manage to entertain him by giving him my water bottle which has a flip up cap that Chase is enthralled with.
-With about an hour and a half left to go, Chase ends up dumping the rest of my water bottle on his lap. He has a soaked onesie, pants and carseat. Having no place to change him (plus knowing he would not return to his carseat if I took him out at this point) I left him soaked, drying it up the best I could. I know, I'm mean.
-We are finally starting the initial descent for landing. Chase is bored with all his toys I brought and the dvd player. I tickle him, play peekaboo, and other various games. He goes from crying to laughing during the games. Then cries again as soon as I stop the game because he remembers he is trapped in his carseat on an airplane, soaked.
-It takes 3 attempts to land becuase of winds. Add an extra 30 minutes to our flight on top of the 20 minutes from being delayed at take-off.
-We finally land. The captain comes on the speaker and instructs everyone to remain seated as we pull up to the terminal because local authorities need to board our plane.
-Chase has had it by now and throws a real nasty fit. I take out my phone to call Jason, which made Chase all excited. He grabs for my phone so I give it to him so he will hush up. He's happy but after a few minutes throws it between his seat and the window.
-We are at our terminal. Two cops come on and stop 5 rows in front of us. One cop takes an Arab looking man and his young son to the very back of the plane where we are and stands guard. The other cop stays by the row guarding some other people. Rows 13 and up are allowed to get off. We are in row 20.
-3 more cops get on. The rest of the plane quickly gets off because who wants to stay on with 5 cops, an Arab looking man, and the 5 other people that are detained (including 2 kids). I try to get off quickly but I had made the seatbelt holding in Chase's carseat way too tight and could not get it off! Finally it's me left on the plane, the cops are waiting for me to get off so they can do whatever they need to with the people being detained and I can't get off! I finally ask the flight attendant for help. It took her a few minutes but she finally got it. She carries the carseat off the plane for me (finally I get a little help!). I put Chase in his stroller, the carseat on my back and turn to leave when I remembered my cell phone was still on the plane! So I turn around and one of the flight attendants from the next flight kindly retrieves it for me. As I'm leaving, one of the flight attendants from my flight comes out and tells the new flight attendants it's going to be awhile...
So I have no idea what happened on our flight (I'm assuming maybe a kidnapping, or maybe the Arab man was making terrorist remarks on our flight. No offense to Arabs, but that seems to be the trend with a lot of them). I'm just glad we made it off safely. There's been nothing in the news about it. I just wonder why they couldn't take the people off the plane to an interrogation room. And why they needed so many cops. Who knows how delayed the next flight was.
Luckily I'm not doing any more traveling for 4 more months. By then, maybe it will get a tad easier to travel with Chase (or worse, who knows). I do not know how I will travel when I have two kids!
-We got to the airport and checked in. Chase is tired so he is being really good in his stroller. I get about a million stares from people because of my two suitcases, stroller, baby, my big duffel bag carry-on and a carseat on my back. The man behind me was kind enough to roll my suitcases forward for me as we stood waiting in line.
-Made it through security without any issues.
-Our gate is at the very end of Terminal A (which is about a mile long). By the time we made it to the gate, we only had to wait 5 minutes before we got to board our plane. By this time, I am out of breath and sweating like a pig from all the stuff I had to push and carry. Not one person offered to help me board the plane, even though they all stared at me as I struggled with the carseat on my back, a purse, a duffel bag and a baby. By the time I finally made it to my seat, Chase was upside down and practically falling out of my arms. I would have let him walk but it would have taken much longer to get to our seat as Chase would be distracted by everything.
-Chase is bored waiting for take-off (we were late taking off because a huge group of people on my flight were going skiing at Deer Valley so there were a million skis that needed to be loaded). He does his high pitched obnoxious angry scream a few times and cries. I play peek a boo with him using his blanket. I also offer juice and a few items of entertainment, all of which get thrown between Chase's seat and the window.
-We finally take off. Chase falls asleep for about an hour and a half. When he wakes up I turn on his dvd player. It did not entertain him like I thought it would! He was a fussy little fellow. But I manage to entertain him by giving him my water bottle which has a flip up cap that Chase is enthralled with.
-With about an hour and a half left to go, Chase ends up dumping the rest of my water bottle on his lap. He has a soaked onesie, pants and carseat. Having no place to change him (plus knowing he would not return to his carseat if I took him out at this point) I left him soaked, drying it up the best I could. I know, I'm mean.
-We are finally starting the initial descent for landing. Chase is bored with all his toys I brought and the dvd player. I tickle him, play peekaboo, and other various games. He goes from crying to laughing during the games. Then cries again as soon as I stop the game because he remembers he is trapped in his carseat on an airplane, soaked.
-It takes 3 attempts to land becuase of winds. Add an extra 30 minutes to our flight on top of the 20 minutes from being delayed at take-off.
-We finally land. The captain comes on the speaker and instructs everyone to remain seated as we pull up to the terminal because local authorities need to board our plane.
-Chase has had it by now and throws a real nasty fit. I take out my phone to call Jason, which made Chase all excited. He grabs for my phone so I give it to him so he will hush up. He's happy but after a few minutes throws it between his seat and the window.
-We are at our terminal. Two cops come on and stop 5 rows in front of us. One cop takes an Arab looking man and his young son to the very back of the plane where we are and stands guard. The other cop stays by the row guarding some other people. Rows 13 and up are allowed to get off. We are in row 20.
-3 more cops get on. The rest of the plane quickly gets off because who wants to stay on with 5 cops, an Arab looking man, and the 5 other people that are detained (including 2 kids). I try to get off quickly but I had made the seatbelt holding in Chase's carseat way too tight and could not get it off! Finally it's me left on the plane, the cops are waiting for me to get off so they can do whatever they need to with the people being detained and I can't get off! I finally ask the flight attendant for help. It took her a few minutes but she finally got it. She carries the carseat off the plane for me (finally I get a little help!). I put Chase in his stroller, the carseat on my back and turn to leave when I remembered my cell phone was still on the plane! So I turn around and one of the flight attendants from the next flight kindly retrieves it for me. As I'm leaving, one of the flight attendants from my flight comes out and tells the new flight attendants it's going to be awhile...
So I have no idea what happened on our flight (I'm assuming maybe a kidnapping, or maybe the Arab man was making terrorist remarks on our flight. No offense to Arabs, but that seems to be the trend with a lot of them). I'm just glad we made it off safely. There's been nothing in the news about it. I just wonder why they couldn't take the people off the plane to an interrogation room. And why they needed so many cops. Who knows how delayed the next flight was.
Luckily I'm not doing any more traveling for 4 more months. By then, maybe it will get a tad easier to travel with Chase (or worse, who knows). I do not know how I will travel when I have two kids!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
i LOVE Jason
I'm exhausted but I just had to write about how much I love my husband. He takes such good care of us. He is my BFF and definitely Chase's. That boy can't get enough of his dad (and doesn't see him nearly enough). I hope you all enjoyed the day with someone you love!
Jason took me to this yummy place called G on Geneva Rd and Center St in Orem (I'm telling you this so you will go eat there!) It was soooooooooo soooooo good, not to mention cheap-a 4 course meal (appetizer, salad, main entree and dessert) for only 16.99. And it's high quality food. I got a NY steak that was so tender. They only serve dinner on Friday and Saturday nights so don't try going on a weeknight.
Then we went and saw the movie He's Just not that into You. It was cute and there were a few times I could have totally cried. Jason hated it. So maybe go with the girls and not your husband. But it was sweet of him to go see it with me.
Anyway, life has been slow in this house. It's still freezing cold here so I don't get out much. It's just been the usual cleaning the house and hanging out at home with Jason and Chase. But that's my favorite thing to do (not including the cleaning, just had to clarify). Soon Chase and I get to take a trip to see my family. I'm excited for my parents and grandparents to see their grandchild and what a big boy he has become.
XOXO
Jason took me to this yummy place called G on Geneva Rd and Center St in Orem (I'm telling you this so you will go eat there!) It was soooooooooo soooooo good, not to mention cheap-a 4 course meal (appetizer, salad, main entree and dessert) for only 16.99. And it's high quality food. I got a NY steak that was so tender. They only serve dinner on Friday and Saturday nights so don't try going on a weeknight.
Then we went and saw the movie He's Just not that into You. It was cute and there were a few times I could have totally cried. Jason hated it. So maybe go with the girls and not your husband. But it was sweet of him to go see it with me.
Anyway, life has been slow in this house. It's still freezing cold here so I don't get out much. It's just been the usual cleaning the house and hanging out at home with Jason and Chase. But that's my favorite thing to do (not including the cleaning, just had to clarify). Soon Chase and I get to take a trip to see my family. I'm excited for my parents and grandparents to see their grandchild and what a big boy he has become.
XOXO
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