The Benefits of Rest

So I recently learned something  very interesting about my illness...

Last week I was in the midst of a couple week 101 fever streak and I had a terrible head cold on top of my usual fevers.  I ended up staying in bed for days straight and doing pretty much nothing but resting.  I didn't even craft because I was too sick to do that.  Well the interesting thing was that after a few days of resting my fevers completely went away (for the first time in months I was a wonderful 98.6!).  So being the genius that I am I decided - well hey, if I'm feeling better maybe I can exercise on the elliptical machine for a half an hour or so.

Unfortunately that brought my fevers back and I am now back into my state of chronic fevers all the time.  Although we did prove Boris's theory wrong (that if I got really sick again maybe I would get better permanently).  So here I am approaching my 1 year mark with my illness and we still have no diagnosis... it's a bit depressing ... now if only I could rest all day every day maybe I would feel better... too bad that isn't very realistic...

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was so fun this year!

Chase woke up around 7am and we brought him to our bed but he was wide awake.  We talked about Christmas a bit and when I asked Chase if he wanted his present he gave a huge body nod "YES!" and then he stood up on the bed and signed and said "More".  So I asked if we should go open the presents and he got so excited and kept saying "Yes...More...Yes!"

He was very excited to see his new Hippo chair...

The gift that appears to have won the best gift of the year award is a close tie between Chase's new Sponge Bob books from Graham and the Tic Tac Toe game he got from Kathy last night.  He spent he morning throwing the bean bags and playing a game he had made up yesterday where he stacks two bean bags together in his hand then holds them above his head and looks up at them until one falls.  Very cute...  By the end of the morning he had even figured out how to drag the table around the room.

Christmas Eve at Zoo Lights

For Christmas Eve Boris, Chase, my mom, Leah, and I went to Zoo Lights and then we went to my aunt Kathy's house for an amazing dinner.

I think my favorite thing was the cider and cookies - Yum.

Chase loved to the Zoo and every time we saw an animal in lights he would roar at it or flap his arms in delight.

Mo Mo the Fish

Here is my second blog for the day (I must admit the first one was more exciting but I thought it was important to include our new pet update).

Boris and I were originally talking about getting Chase a fish tank for Christmas but we couldn't come to an agreement about what size tank to get - I wanted a practical 3 gallon tank and Boris wanted a HUGE tank.  Since we couldn't agree on what to get we kind of gave up on the idea.

But then yesterday on a whim, Boris and I bought Chase a Beta fish since it seemed like a good cheap and "easy to care for" solution.  Boris decided to name the fish Mo Mo.

Chase loves Mo Mo and whenever the fish is hiding in the plant or not visible Chase shouts "Mo Mo All Gone?!"  It is very cute.  Sometimes he stands below the fireplace pointing at the tank saying "Mo Mo".

PS - Graham recently left to go visit his family for Christmas and poor Chase has been missing him.  He keeps saying "Uncle? All gone?  Uncle?  Uncle?"  It's really cute...

Purple Hippo

This year for Hanukkah Boris and I gave Chase a giant purple hippo rocking chair...

He was really excited when we first brought it out and he stamped his feet and squealed in delight while we opened it.

Once the hippo was open it was a different story...

Chase was terrified of it and was shouting "No! No! No!" - below is a picture of him trying to crawl into my lap to escape the hippo.

After a few minutes of terror he finally adjusted to the hippo and was willing to give it hugs and pats but would NOT sit on it.

But for some unknown reason this morning Chase decided that he was over his fear of the hippo and decided to take him for a ride.  He loves it and he giggles while he rocks on it.

Just wait until he opens the giant purple hippo matching chair tomorrow morning!

Spoiled Rotten

(This is my third blog entry for today - a lot has happened in the last two days - be sure to read on - the next two entries are worth reading.)

Chase is so spoiled...I just can't help myself and apparently neither can other people...

We have already done a few Christmas exchanges this year and Chase has already gotten:

Hippo Chair and Hippo Rocker (well he will get that on Christmas from Boris and I)

Musical Instruments

New Blue Crocs with Jibbets

Sponge Bob Books

Stuff Sponge Bob

Smart E Bear

Hippo Ornament and Pink Sheep

Batman Car

Horton Hears a Who Movie set

Chase was very excited when he realized some of his presents were wrapped in Sponge Bob paper.

He kept looking in the box like "WOW check out how many there are".

He was very excited about his Sponge Bob books - they were a favorite.

He kept leaning in to get a closer look at Smart E bear which is a programmable bear that learns your kid's name and sings songs and plays games (and unfortunately when Boris and Graham tried to set it up they broke it).

Chase and Graham opening his stuffed Sponge Bob.

A Horrible Haircut

Chase had his first haircut today...

Here is the before picture - Boris was beginning to be bothered by how long Chase's hair was...

So we arrived at the haircut place and everything was fine while Chase played in the play area but as soon as it was our turn and we put him in the car to have his hair cut he started screaming and crying.

He cried the entire time - we tired to bribe him with toys, our iPhones, a sucker, Jibbets, everything but nothing would comfort him.  Even afterwards once they were finished he was still so upset we couldn't get a picture for his certificate.

Here is the after picture - he looks so much older and different to me.  It made me a little sad.

PS - Graham gave Chase his sucker later this evening which he very much enjoyed.

Chase is Already a Criminal

Notice Chase's adorable new Crocs... well there is a story that goes along with them...

Last night Chase received a pair of new Crocs (the kid has an obsession with Crocs and always screams in delight when he sees the Croc stand at mall).  So while we were at the mall we thought that we would buy him some new Jibbets.  I bought him a sheep, a Sponge Bob, a lizard, and a Boots the Monkey.  Well after Jibbet shopping we went and let Chase play on the giant fruit at the mall - which is absolutely loved.  The funny thing was that the entire time he played he had a death grip on his Sponge Bob and sheep Jibbet.  He wouldn't let go of them.  So we finally finished up playing and went home but when we got to the door to put on coats, Pops noticed that there was an additional big eyed puppy Jibbet.  Well apparently Chase has snatched the Jibbet while I was looking at other ones without me realizing it and had shop lifted it!  Whoops - my baby is already a criminal.

PS.  Check out Chase's poor nose - he scratched it while playing yesterday...

Putting Up the Tree

We put up our Christmas tree today (fake again - maybe one year we will actually get a real one) - here are a few photos of what Christmas tree decorating looks like out our house.

We start by hauling the tree out of the basement (well I make Boris do that but I'll still say "we").  Once the tree is up the OCD in Boris requires that we vacuum any fake pine needles that may have fallen off.

Chase, who spent his time running around wearing on old tree skirt like cape and getting Graham to fly him around like a super hero finally became interested in the tree once we turned on the lights.  If you want to see more pictures of Chase in his cape check out our family site.

Next came the ornaments, which is always my favorite part.  It brings back so many memories!  I like to buy an ornament that represents every year so it is fun to get them back out.  As you can see by the below picture the ornaments Chase put on the tree were basically thrown on with the hope that they would stick... he didn't get the "hang them on the tree" concept.

Once the ornaments were on Boris set up the train with Chase's help.  Chase loved the train until we turned it on and it started making noise.  He then decided that he was terrified of it.

Overall it was quite the adventure but I think the tree looks great.  I always love having it up...

We All Fall Down

Chase went to visit his Grammy yesterday and when Boris and I got there to pick him up he was playing the funniest game.  My mom had set up an inflatable bed for my cousin who was staying over night in the basement.  Chase would run into the closet, shut the door, open the door, run out, and do a belly flop on the air mattress.  Then he would laugh hysterically, run around the bed into another closet, shut the door, open the door run out, and do another belly flop.  He did this for about 15 minutes until he finally fell down and got a little bit of rug burn on his face.  Grammy's house is soooo fun!

Sleepy Chase

Poor little Chase had a rough day.  He fell at daycare and bonked / scraped his head.  Then when he got home he was so tired he fell asleep while he was on a walk with Boris.

Chase's new adorable phrase of the day:  Oh Man!

Chase's "I'm in big trouble" moment of the week:  The other night Chase snuck off to the laundry room and before Boris or I caught him he had managed to shove a few pieces of dog food into his mouth (he was very pleased with himself).  It took us quite a bit of fighting with screaming baby to get the dog food back out of his mouth and by the time we did it was all soggy and gross...eww...

Scary Saint Nick

At Chase's school they did pictures with Santa yesterday... apparently 1 year olds and Santa don't really mix... Below is our proof picture...

Snow! (...or bubbles...)

Chase played in the snow for the first time yesterday.   He still calls it bubbles and he was much more interested in the rocks than the actual snow but it was really cute.  I don't think he really understood what to do in it...

Other cute things Chase has been doing lately:

- He will look at me before he does something he knows he shouldn't do (like feed his food to the dogs) and he will shake his finger at me and say "no no no" and then do whatever he was going to do anyways

- He carries around our iPhones like a boom box and dances to the music

- When he reads the Spot book every time we lift a tab that Spot isn't under he shouts "NO!"

- He has stinky little boy feet and one of his favorite games is smelling his feet and saying "EWWWW"

A Love of Crocs

Chase is in love with Crocs...

Every time we go by the Croc cart at a mall he points at the Crocs and asks for more and cries when we leave.  He has also taken up the habit of carrying our Crocs around the house.  The most recent adorable Croc loving thing that Chase has started doing is that every morning he puts on Boris' Crocs.  It is adorable.

Build a Bear

Last weekend, Boris, Graham, and I took Chase to the Build-a-Bear workshop so that he could pick out a bear.  We went in and showed Chase all of the different bears.  To Boris' horror Chase did indeed fall in love with a bear - it just happened to be the pink bear with hearts all over it.  No matter how many times we tried to convince him to pick another bear, he kept going back to the pink bear.  He would hug it and snuggle it and whack away any other bear we showed him.  We even took him to the section with the dressed up bears and he still managed to find the only pink heart bear in the bunch.

Graham and I tried to convince Boris to get the pink bear but he just couldn't do it...the only other bear that Chase showed any interest in was a neon blue bear with silver sparkles in its fur... Needless to say, we left the workshop without a bear... 

Twilight - On the Big Screen

Last night I did something very out of character and I stayed up and went to the 12:01 showing of the movie Twilight.  It was very fun - although it did remind me why I usually try to avoid movies swarming with young girls - and it also made me wonder "what are some parents thinking letting a kid that young out on a school night?!" (I mean there were like 7 year olds there).

I am a complete Twilight addict and I loved the books so of course the movie was a little disappointing.  It was okay but I think they had a hard time capturing Bella and Edward's relationship.  In the book the relationship starts out a bit uncomfortable and awkward but as the book progresses it grows in to a really close intimate relationship where the two characters really understand and know each other and do fall in love.  In the movie I felt like they were "trying too hard / acting too much" which made everything feel a little too forced and the relationship never grew past the uncomfortable stage for me.  Also, I think Bella's character seemed too fearful which was not something that I really picked up about her in the book.  I would also say they missed the boat a little bit with a couple of the other characters and relationships but it is hard to fit all of that into a movie.  This is the problem with reading a book and then seeing a movie - it is just too hard to fit all of that character development into 2 hours.

I was also a little disappointed in some of the casting choices (specifically for Edward)...

But for all my complaining I'm glad I went, I had a great time and overall the movie was okay.

Holiday Rush

Based on blogs and emails it sounds like everyone I know is basking in holiday cheer - for some reason the holidays don't have quite the same effect on me....

To me the holidays are crowds at the malls, massive lists of things that need to get done, and dates that creep up on me way faster than they should. It's only mid-November and I'm already freaking out about how I need to reserve a turkey and ham for Thanksgiving, how I need to start / finish Christmas shopping, whether nor not I should make holiday cookies or holiday cards this year, how I'm going to make this year special for Chase, how I need to decorate, how we are going to budget for the extra holiday spending, what outfit Chase is going to wear for the holidays, what silly gift I should pick up for the work events that I don't really want to participate in because all the stress from things that came earlier in the above list make me a bit grumpy, etc, etc, etc. Needless to say the holidays bring out the absolute worst in my OCD - there are so many self-inflicted obligations to fill and so many lists to make, it could make a girl go crazy!

So for all of you out there with holiday cheer - take pity on us poor OCD, type A, overachieving, stress balls who always take on too much... We all know that we need to just take chill pills and that all of the above can be avoided but we just can't help ourselves... it's the way we are...

Bubbles!!!!

Today was Chase's first snow (well first snow that he was aware enough to understand). Boris took him outside this morning and I guess Chase started shouting "Bubbles Bubbles Bubbles!" Boris tried to correct him and say "No that's snow" and Chase would say "No Bubbles!!!!" How adorable. I guess he was quite taken with the snow - especially letting it fall on his little face. I can't wait until we get enough snow that he can play in it! How exciting.

PS. Babies in winter coats and hats are the cutest thing ever.

Yes We Can! Hooray for Obama!

Today is a good day... Obama won the election!

This year was quite an exciting voting year for my little family. I think this is the most engaged I have ever been in an election and it was certainly the most engaged Boris has ever been (he voted for the first time!!!!) - and even better, what an exciting first election for Chase - granted he won't remember it but that's okay we can tell him stories about it.

Today I am proud to be an American, I am proud to be from Colorado - which voted democratic this year, I am proud that we finally have an African American president, and I am hopeful for a better future for Chase. I can't wait to see what a little change will bring...

PS. Health Update: I had a CT Scan of my abdomen done this morning...the stuff I had to drink was aweful - there is nothing like waking up at 5 am to drink a bunch of chemicals that make you want to vomit for 2 hours before being stabbed with a needle for an IV so that they can inject additional radioactive stuff into your body before they scan you. (I'm a bit grouchy this morning if you couldn't tell - not even the election result glow can completely balance out my bummer of a morning - maybe if my stomach would stop grumbling I would feel better.)

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween last night!  Chase was a penguin and he went trick or treating for the first time.  He loved being able to get the candy out of the buckets and he especially liked shaking the little box of nerds that he got.  After trick or treating we went back to the house and played the new guitar hero.  Chase loved the music and danced all night long!  He does love to shake his booty...

Pumpkin Party, a Halloween Preview

This afternoon Chase, Boris, and I went to a friend's Pumpkin Party.  All of the kids wore costumes and Chase is so cute in his penguin outfit.  The party was a blast, the kids had a pinata and they decorated cookies and did Halloween art and at the end they were getting going on some pumpkin carving.  Chase LOVED the mini pumpkins and he spent the entire time carry them around.  He tried to pick up the larger pumpkins but they were too heavy.

OOF So heavy!