It is so interesting to see all the differences there are between Chase and Tyler as a baby. The first thing that we noticed was that Tyler never cried, even when he got bonked or got a shot. He was so even tempered. In fact, my mother told me some time later that she was worried Tyler would be slow since he never cried or made a lot of noise. Well, if you have ever met him, you know he is far from being slow. Chase is the kid that cries or screams bloody murder at the smallest of infractions done to him. We have decided he is a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde baby. He seriously only has two modes...either he is so sweet and happy and is one of the most lovable, kissable babies ever, or he is screaming and crying and is completely unconsolable no matter what you do. Ty was NEVER like that! I suppose that is why we had a second! :) Anyway, another difference is that Tyler never really played with baby toys or rolled around or grabbed his toes that much. I sometimes would wonder why there were even such things as baby toys since he never played with them...so naturally I assumed no baby did. Well Chasers LOVES toys. He will play with them, chew on them, shake them, bang them on his face and cry...you name it, he does it.

Chase is always so happy when he wakes up. He will just coo and talk in his crib and gives the biggest gummy grins when you come to get him. I love that so much. Tyler was a crier when he woke up and is still to this day grumpy a lot of times after he wakes up from a nap.

However, they are both wonderful little boys and despite their differences so far, they just adore each other. Nobody can make Chase laugh like Ty does and Tyler is always so kind and happy with Chase...except when it comes to sharing his toys. That part may take a while to overcome. I am so glad I never had to deal with my older child trying to systematically eliminate the younger competition. I know there are moms that do and I feel for them. My biggest hope is that they will be the best of friends growing up and will look after each other. I am excited to watch this happen!


I pulled out the jumperoo finally to help Chase build up his leg strength. It is funny because he is such a solid chunk of a boy that for some reason that makes him super lazy. When you try to stand him up and make him use his legs he just melts to the floor and is so content with this. He also doesn't try too hard when it comes to sitting up either, but we will work on it. I am sure he will come around.




All tuckered out from the strenuous work out. I was actually on the computer next to him and I noticed that it was quiet all of the sudden next to me and I looked over to see Chase passed out. It was a kodak moment for sure.






In their sunday best.

Just waiting to see Santa and tell him what we want for Christmas. I hate that you can't take your own pictures of them with Santa, but we got one with the gingerbread man. Tyler was so pumped to talk to Santa butfroze up big time when he was actually on his lap. It was kind of cute.

Welcome to Disneyland...on my birthday! I recommend going to Disney to celebrate your birthday.

Not quite King Arthur material...yet!

If you couldn't tell, Tyler did not want to be in this picture...hence the straight jacket hold he is in. Oh well.

We had a fabulous Christmas vacation in Palm Springs with Dan's family and were able to go to Disneyland on Christmas Eve. We had such a fun time and Tyler was even able to go on a lot of the roller coasters this year! I am glad I didn't have to burst out into tears because he couldn't ride the go-coaster again. I was pregnant last year though, that is my excuse! Ty is still talking about the abominable snowman and the matterhorn ride. I think he went on that one 3 times. It was so cute to see how incredibly scared he was during the ride and then the smile that crept over his face when the ride was over and then would beg to go again and again and again. He did say that the snowman needed a haircut though. That was kind of funny.

Tyler lasted the whole day without and nap, and Chase gave me the best birthday present that he could. Peace and quiet on the ride to Anaheim and being so sweet and good the whole day long...until the ride home of course. Then all hell broke loose, but it was a perfect day otherwise!

Christmas was a lot of fun too even though it was spent in a hotel suite thing. We brought a lot of stuff with us to celebrate...that wasn't necessary, but oh well. My camera battery died at the end of Disney day, so I don't have any pics of Christmas, but hopefully I can get some from Michelle soon. When I do, I will be sure to post them.

Happy New Year Everyone!

At Chase's 4 month old well check he weighed in at a whopping 20 lbs 4 oz!!!!! This kid is so chubby and lovable, I just squish and kiss him ALL the time. We spent Thanksgiving in Paradise Valley with the AZ crew (Dan's brothers and families and parents) and had a great time. Dan had the whole week off but spent a lot of the time working on applications to business schools for MBA programs. He did soooo good on his GMAT at the beginning of the month. He had been studying for 2 years for this test (off and on af course) and I was so happy that he was finally taking it and getting started with this process. He really wasn't sure how it would go and so after the test when he called he pretended that he did really bad and would "need a lot of consoling." My heart just sank, but I knew everything would be okay. I kept hoping he was just being a punk though and tricking me, but I really didn't know for sure and didn't want to get my hopes up. So anyway, when I saw him and asked how he did, he just said "look for yourself" and handed me the paper. I think a 720 out of 800 is pretty dang good myself!

So, we worked on his applications to MIT, BYU, and ASU. ASU will be if we decide it would be best to stay in AZ and have Dan continue working while getting a dual degree. Sounds fun for the whole family huh! BYU would be nice because I know it well and have friends there already, but then again, I really don't want to move back to Provo, I don't want to move at all really. I love my house and my ward and my friends here and will be so sad to leave, even if it is just for 2 years. Then there is MIT. If he got in, which will be very difficult of course, it would seem almost crazy not to go. But that would mean moving accross country, renting our house out, storing our stuff, living in a tiny cinder block apartment in a crazy city I don't know. Enduring freezing cold winters and humid summers. AAAhhhh. But it is MIT. I guess we won't stress until we know what the outcomes are of the applications. Until then...



These are so classic!

Luckily his belly button hernia finally receded and went away. It was probably in early October when it happened, thank goodness.

I had to throw in at least one picture of Tyler.

October was a fun month. My parents came into town to visit and we got to go to ther Children's Museum and the Phoenix Zoo with them and play, play, play. We also were lucky enough to join my sister and her family in San Clemente for a week to enjoy the beach and sun at their time share. Unfortunately, I still don't have the pictures from that trip since I forgot my camera, but hopefully I will get them sometime. We had such a good time though and the boys were so great in the car. They slept a lot which was very impotant with Chase since he hates his car seat.

We were also adventurous enough to get into the water even though it was October and it was still very do-able. Tyler was much more beach-friendly this trip than our last. He used to hate the sand and was scared of the water, but this time it certainly was not love-at-first-site, but he warmed up to it very nicely. Chase just hung out in the tent mostly, and did not like having his toes dipped in the ocean...go figure! We also went to the San Diego zoo which was awesome. We loved seeing all of the cool animals and were able to sit in the front row at the seal show where my little neice was chosen to come up and be one of the helpers. It made it even more fun to have someone up there that we knew.

This year for Halloween Tyler dressed up as a dog which actually looks like a cow, but he pulled it off no matter how you saw it. Chase was dressed up a Tigger for our trunk-or-treat party, but was very upset for a long time until I realized the reason he was screaming bloody murder was mostly because the 12-month-old costume was too small for his fat little thighs and was sqeezing them to death. You might wonder why I didn't think of this earlier since I did put on the constume and I did zip it up with some difficulty...the things we do to our children in the name of being cute! Oops. Really though, a 4-month-old too big for size 12 months?

Anyway, we had a really good time other than that at the party and then went trick-or-treating the next night on Halloween. It was so fun to see Tyler get so excited and pick up the idea of what is going on and then really go for it with the candy! He had a lot of fun as you can see. Dan is more of a spoiler than I am so Tyler was able to eat a lot of crap for the next few days...Dan thinks it is to get it out of his system, but I don't think that 'trick' really worked.

The Children's Museum






I love this picture...he is so funny.






I wish I had that much fun while shopping!



Phoenix Zoo

Trunk-or-Treat

Started out the night look pretty happy and really cute.


Ended the night with his thighs hanging out and screaming his head off!


Trick-or-Treating


Tyler and his friend Aspyn who was a little puppy princess!




Most of that was eaten by me :(


Sportin' their skeletor glow in the dark jammies.

Happy Halloween!

September was kind of an interesting month. Between kids being sick and me fracturing my foot, we didn't get out much and I was going stir crazy. It was totally random that I broke my foot too. It was a stress fracture probably brought on by hormones and being a mom to two little kids. It is still hard for me to believe that I am a mom of two let alone one. They are such good kids that it makes it pretty easy on me.

Chase had his 10 weeks appointment though and I was not surprised to hear that he was off the charts. He was 16lbs. 9 oz. which was way beyond the 100% and his height was 24.5 in which is in the 90%, but he still has a little head coming in at the 20% range again! This kid is truly amazing.

He also started sleeping through the night all by himself too around 10 weeks. Hallelujah! He usually sleeps from about 9 pm until 6:30 am (when Tyler wakes up unfortunately) but then takes a nap again shortly thereafter. It is a great schedule though. I can't believe it, but I think Chase is even an easier baby than Tyler was. That is a hard feat to accomplish, but he totally is. Lucky me! He hardly cries, and when he does he is so non-committal about it that it sounds like he is just trying to get a little attention. Which sometimes he needs to do, because Tyler is usually stealing the show. Chase definitely gets the shaft when it comes to attention, but I adore him sooo much. I just hope he feels loved because he is so much.


Little Budda


9 weeks old.



The ever attractive hernia protruding an inch from his belly. It is so sad, but luckily it doesn't hurt and should go away soon! Poor baby, he has been through too much in his short life.



I love the size difference. I can't believe they get so big so fast. Stay small already!



10 1/2 weeks old. My little chunky monkey! He still has that basketball belly.



Tyler loves the bumbo...it is his new favorite place to sit.



What a cheeser!

Chase is not loving this photo op.

11 weeks old. Growing out of his 3-6 month jammies. He is mostly wearing 6 months clothes now and he is not even 3 months old!

Sexy pose!

Getting ready for Halloween...is it a cow named woof, or a dog? Not sure.