Lake Tapps

So this is a pretty funny picture to start out this post, but it is a funny picture wherever I put it. Chase is quite the ham for pictures, and he posed for me on this tree stump on an outing we did two weekends ago since the weather was really nice. What a goofball :).

Anyway, two weekends ago we decided to go and see what there was to do around us. We wanted to go to where there was water, and in WA that isn't really that hard to do. Lake Tapps is near to us, so we decided to explore, and we are glad that we did. It was such a pretty place, and it made me realize that I should be more grateful for living where we live because Washington really is a beautiful place--so green, so many different trees, so many things to do outdoors, and really pleasant weather (when it is the summer :) ). We had a lot of fun, now the next goal is to find a boat for next time because then we will have a blast!
Of course Kai is gonna go to where the real fun is, and that is wherever he can make the biggest mess of himself. He is always one to experience life to its fullest though, and thankfully Nathan was there to hold him back from jumping right in.
What is nice about boys is that it is pretty inexpensive to provide them entertainment. Give them a few rocks, some water to throw them in, and they are happy for hours.
My picture didn't turn out that great, but this would be my dream home (minus the 6 mo. of rain a year). Surrounded by tons of trees, and right on the water, with a gorgeous home, how fun. I really don't need a big home like this, or in these surroundings, but I still had to take the picture.

Happy Birthday Chase!

To think that 3 years ago (as of last night) I was still wondering where my first baby was. 6 days late, and still no sign of him. Then, as I was watching "Survivor" I felt something that felt different than Braxton Hicks...hmm, maybe Chase was going to grace us with his presence? A call to the hospital and they said we should come in (I wasn't sure if my water had broke or not), and after being told that my contractions weren't serious enough, that my water hadn't broke, and that it could be days before he came, we were sent home at 11:30 pm, with a 40 min. drive back home. As soon as we walked in the door, I layed down, and "Pop!" my water broke. This time there was no mistaking it, and the contractions really started coming. Back in the car, in more pain now, checked in after 1am, Chase decided to be born at 5:50 am, 7lbs 6oz (I think :D). Anyway, now we are celebrating his third birthday...pretty crazy!
Here is our cute boy on his 1st birthday, excited about his presents.
And just last Saturday, we had a birthday party for Chase with all of his/our friends. Here he is hanging with his buddies eating pizza.
Chase and his "cheese" face, which is pretty goofy, showing off his present that he got from "Nammy Janie and Cuppy Craig." Thank you to all of you that sent him presents, he loves all of them.
I know there should be 3 candles, but I made little gluten-free lava cakes (so Nathan could eat them too), and put ice cream on top (the only dessert Chase really likes), so there wasn't a whole lot of room for numerous candles. He had 3 candles to blow out for his party, so I think he got his fill. Happy Birthday Chase, we love you soooo much and are grateful to have you part of our family!

Easter

I have noticed that everyone's blogs have wonderful pictures of their Easter celebrations; unfortunately I don't have any pictures to post for this special holiday. Both of our boys looked really cute in their Easter outfits, and had a lot of fun learning about what Easter is really about, and of course seeing what the Easter bunny brought them, but I only videotaped everything, and didn't take any pictures. I know I can upload videos to here, but with the camera I taped everything with, I don't have the stuff to use to put them here on the computer. So I am sad that I was too lazy Easter day to record the happenings on both of our cameras.

But we did have a great time Easter weekend. Nathan got the Friday before off, so we left for Spokane Thursday night to visit his sister Noelle and her family. Chase had a lot of fun playing with his younger cousin Peter, and I had a lot of fun holding their little baby, Eva, most of Friday. It was a lot of fun seeing Spencer and Noelle, and we wish we lived closer.

We then drove 20 minutes to Hayden, ID, where my sister Kelli and her family lives. We really liked the area they live (Coeur D'Alene, which is a resort town), and would love to move up there since it is so pretty and so cheap to live. Unfortunately with the economy being horrible, and their area having no jobs to begin with, it wouldn't be the smartest move. However we loved visiting with them, and it was wonderful for Chase since he had constant playmates: Taylee and Lexi kept him occupied the whole time we were there, and thankfully we weren't there too long or he would have been hooked on Polly Pocket :).

We had a great time with family and hope to be able to visit both families again since 5 hours isn't too long of a drive.

Enjoying the Outdoors

Now that we are starting to get some Spring weather we can't get enough of being outside. I can't wait until it gets really nice and then maybe we will attempt camping. Anyway, Kai loves playing outside with all of us, but he isn't a huge fan of grass :).

This is the nice new lawn that we now have in the front of our place, but instead of the boys wanting to run and play on it, they would rather play...

...here in the rocks and dirt. As soon as we go outside they immediately go to this one spot and dig in the dirt, throw the rocks, and Kai occasionally likes to rile me up by putting one his mouth only to spit it back out and smile at me.

This is before the new grass was put in, but we have this crazy swing out in the front, and Kai likes to lazily swing around in it.

Here is the view we can see when the day is clear and there aren't any clouds blocking it. It is of Mount Rainier, the volcano that could blow who knows when. Thankfully we are a ways away from it, and are up on a hill, but there are signs around all the roads and freeways that say "Evacuation Route"...kinda scary. Anyway, at least it is pretty to look at.

We can't wait for it to get even warmer and stay out all day long, and do all sorts of fun things!

What we have been up to

As most of you already know, we have since moved out on our own and are enjoying the time together as our little family of four. Over the last few weeks we have been up to a few things: First, potty training. This was something I did NOT want to do, and have put it off and put it off. Then, when living with Nicole and Adam and their two boys, things were a little too crazy already to introduce potty training. So, now that we are on our own, I had to get to it with Chase. Even though he wasn't all for it, he jumped on the bandwagon and success soon followed. We started last week and we already have a pro on our hands. Only a few minor accidents, and that is it. I am pretty amazed...I guess he was ready. So here is a picture of that, (we ended up going to a smaller potty chair, but I thought this picture was kinda funny with Kai attacking me with the camera, and Chase being goofy).

Slightly before we moved we realized that Kai liked all of our food, not baby food. So we started him on anything and everything. Now that he has a few teeth (you can't tell here), he really can eat most things. One of his favorite things, which he gets on a rare occasion, is Oreos :).

Now that we have our own furniture back, the boys are embracing it. This is their favorite pastime, it seems, (or jumping on the couch), and if I am not paying attention for a minute, all of the books (as high as they can reach) are brought tumbling down. Unfortunately with the curved bookcase, it is hard to put them back up, so they aren't really able to help me clean up their mess.

Without two other cousins always around, Chase has had time to sit and ponder life. Haha, yeah right. I did think this was a funny picture though. All of a sudden Chase says, "Mom, look at my chair!" and I turn to see him sitting on this little toy chair all seriously.

We were also able to go to Brown's Point in Tacoma, WA, and even though it was way windy and freezing, we were able to enjoy the sun and see the lighthouse, and even a bald eagle. Pretty cool.

Lastly we enjoy having more space to ourselves. So the other day I put Kai up on my shoulders and chased Chase around the house. Don't you love all the drool on Kai? He is majorly teething and is constantly soaked.

We Love Kai--Happy 1st Birthday!

It is so weird to think that a year ago today contractions were starting and I was in denial that I was actually going into labor. Thanks to the help of Melissa and my mom, I heeded their advice and went to the doctor to check things out. Kai was relatively easy to bring into the world, however, once he was here, he wasn't the easiest baby right off the bat. But over time we got his reflux figured out, and the Kai we all know and love came through, a sweet, fun-loving, loves to eat a ton, and little baby boy who knows what he wants and when he wants it :). It has been a lot of fun getting to know him over this last year, and we can't believe how much he has grown up. We love you, Kai, and are glad to have you part of our family.
Here he is less than a week old.
And now here he is, grown up a little more, and able to feed himself, kinda. We celebrated his birthday while at my parents (with his cousin Payton who is just 3 weeks older than him), and will celebrate it again tomorrow (a day delayed), but here he is discovering his first cake. It didn't take him long to discover that eating his first cake would be a lot of fun.
I love Kai's personality...we didn't even have to encourage him, he went all in...so typical of this guy.
He seriously ate almost his entire cake. A few pieces were slung through the air, where my parents dog was anxiously waiting. Samson knows to hang out where Kai is eating, Kai is pretty good about sharing his meals and his treats. Happy Birthday Kai, we love you and are anxious to celebrate your birthday again tomorrow.

Adam's Wedding & Our Visit to El Dorado Hills

It is crazy to think that my little brother Adam is a married man now, and that I have a new sister named Cortnie, but I am happy for the two of them, and excited for us to have an even bigger family now. Adam and Cortnie got married on a golf course outside of the San Francisco area on Feb. 28th, and thankfully the weather cooperated and it was really nice. My parents were nice enough to fly me, Chase and Kai down for it, as well as Kelli and her three kids. It was soooo much fun being all together as a family (minus Nathan and Kelli's husband, Todd). The wedding was beautiful and a lot of fun, and I am glad that we were able to be there.

Here's the newly married couple.

The reception afterwards was a lot of fun as well, and Chase was up to his antics in putting on a show. He loved to go out on the dance floor while everyone was still eating, and start dancing to get the wedding party to laugh at him. He especially liked flirting with a lot of the women there. Chase can be really shy, but when he is tired he typically turns into a little ham. I thought this picture was cute of the grandkids that were old enough to dance.

I know that none of us girls like this picture, but it is decent of the three of us, and we had a great time hanging out at my parents' house the rest of our visit. It was nice having our kids all together because for the most part they played with each other and left us alone to visit.

Here is the whole gang of grandkids on the Stoker family side. There is one on the way, so that will make four boys and four girls...crazy to think how many we have already!