Can I Have Too Many Bags?

Yesterday Boris went to the outlets to return some shoes that were giving him blisters and while he was there he saw that Coach was having a HUGE sale (everything was on sale with an additional 50% off the sale price).  So needless to say Boris couldn't pass up the opportunity so I ended up with the below fabulous Coach bag.  I am very excited about it but between all the bags I already own and the new ones I have been making I am starting to feel like I have too many!  Is there such a thing?

Also since I never did a recap of my amazing 5 year anniversary trip here it is...

Boris and I went to the Broadmoor for our first night away from Chase - it ended up going well and we had an amazing time.  The Spa was incredible and it was nice to just relax.  I think I may have even hooked Boris on massages.  Everyone was so nice there!  The only negative side effect is that ever since our trip Chase has been super needy and he cries whenever anyone leaves...

Here is the bracelet Boris got me for our anniversary.

In parenting news Chase recently had his first time out.  It looked something like this:

- Chase hits mommy (repeatedly)

- Mommy sits Chase on a stool where he flops about and whines

- When we calms down we talk about what happened and why he had to sit on the stool

- Chase gets out of timeout and says "NO HIT MOMMY" and proceeds to whack me again

- Chase ends up back in time out

- Repeat the last two steps for about 20 minutes

- Chase finally apologizes to Mommy and the hitting stops

- The next day Chase walks by the timeout stool and says "No hit mommy"

- Later that day Chase walks by the timeout stool and says "No hit mommy" he then proceeds to find me and whack me

- Chase is back in the timeout stool

- At this point Chase began trying to "get out" of time out but mommy was always there waiting to put him back in...the power struggles have begun - I just hope I can keep winning...

- Now the last stair in our house is also a timeout place because Chase is apparently in a hitting phase (he has tried to hit the dogs, Uncle, Daddy, Mommy, etc. and much to his annoyance he finds himself in timeout every time he hits)

Last but not least - a house update.

We have had two open houses and a bunch of showings - now I think we are just waiting for the right buyer.  Very exciting, although I will say that selling a house is a huge pain!!!  Here is the house that we plan on buying if ours ever sells.  I've already started having fantasies about custom closet shelving, a non-hazardous second floor, a nice backyard, a craft room / playroom area, decorating Chase's toddler room, etc.

88%?! Really?!

Apparently about 82% - 88% of married couples make it to their 5 year anniversary (this number was higher than I expected) - today B and I happily joined that group. It does feel like quite the accomplishment, 5 entire years of getting along nicely with someone else. I don't suppose that I necessarily imagined that by the age of 27 I would be having a 5 year wedding anniversary and that I would be chasing a 20 month old around the burbs. I think I expected that I would be living in a loft downtown doing some kind of high powered job. Funny how life works out.

Photo Shoot

We recently had some professional photos of Chase taken - I am thrilled with how they turned out!  If you like them check out Poucher Photography...  the best part is that you get full rights to your photos so you can print as many as you like or email them around!  If you want to see all of the pictures check out our family website.

Mother's Day

This year for Mother's Day the first thing Chase said to me was "Happy Mommy's Day - I love you mommy!"  What can be sweeter than that?!

Also, because I thought it was funny, here is what TV time looks like at our house...I swear it sucks a kid's brain out.

Give-Away

So apparently Give-Aways are not the way to draw people to your blog =) - but it was an interesting experiment. I only had three people enter so they each get something - I am delivering the prizes via Capricious - congrats and thanks for entering!

In Chase news - the kiddo can finally consistently count to 10 and to my surprise he knows about half of his ABCs. The bad Chase news is that he is in another "No" phase, everything is "No Daddy" or "No Mommy", there is a lot of sass going around our house lately. We have even had a few tantrums because I said no and meant it and Chase wasn't pleased with the decision. Unfortunately Chase got stubbornness from both of his parents...

Restore-a-Finish / Potty Mouth

This weekend while getting our house ready to sell I discovered one of the most amazing products! It is called Restore-a-Finish (but I hardly think the name does it justice - half way through the day we started referring to it as "Jesus Juice"). It is a $7 bottle that will remove any scratch, fading finish, or other issues on wooden surfaces. We did our kitchen cabinets along with every door in the house and everything looks new. I am not exaggerating - the stuff is AMAZING (if you saw it on a late night infomericial you would think they were full of ****)! It even took out the dog scratches all over the doors. The best part is how easy the stuff is to use - you just wipe it on and then wipe it off and you are done! No removing hardware or cabinet doors or anything. Like I said - amazing stuff - this is by far one of my new favorite products.

In other news, Chase has officially inherited my potty mouth. I definately have a tendency to curse a lot... I have been trying to do better around Chase but this weekend we caught Chase (on numerous occasions) banging his toys on the floor or wall and saying "Damn It Damn It Damn It". It is terrible - definately not a pride mommy moment - and it usually takes all my self-control not to laugh. I am trying to shift him to saying "Oh Goodness!" or "Goodness Gracious" which is hilarious when he says it but we haven't been that sucessful yet. He has been saying other funny things as well such as "I found it!" and "All better" - very cute.

PS. Lately Chase has been in a "mommy" phase where he always wants me - it is so nice when that happens - I always feel so loved. I'm sure we will shift back to a daddy phase soon but I am enjoying it while it lasts.

Everyone Loves Free Stuff

As mentioned in my previous blog entry, Philigry is doing a give-away.  I decided that sounded like a lot of fun so I'm going to do one too (again not sure if enough people check out my blog but I thought I would give it a whirl).

- One entry for leaving a comment.  

- An additional entry for each new person that leaves a comment saying that they heard about my blog from you (the new person and you will both get an entry).  

- One entry for mentioning the give away on your blog (just be sure to leave me a comment letting me know you did that).

- One entry for checking out my Etsy shop (www.beyondimagination.etsy.com) - leave me a comment letting me know you did this too.

- I will do the drawing on May 8th.

I decided to go with jewelry since most of the people I know either knit, scrapbook, crochet, or sew so I figured anything I would give away in those areas people could make for themselves.

Also, I actually have 3 "prizes"... no winning more than once so there will be 3 winners.

Give-Away 1 - Two Scrabble Tile Pendants

Give-Away 2 - Book Thong

Give-Away 3 - Glass Tile pendant

Give-Away!

One of the blogs that I follow (Philigry) is doing a free give-away! The fabric samples that she is giving away are really great - how exciting. It makes me think to myself that I should do one, then again I am not sure that I have a big enough of a blog following to make it worth it.

In other news, my life recently has been consumed by 1) a bummer of a flare in my illness - which I am blaming on the weather and 2) trying to decide what to do about our house. Do we buy an existing house, build a new house, or try to stay where we are and fix up the house? So many choices!!! It makes my brain hurt. Hopefully in the new week or two we will make a decision.

Lastly a Chase update. Chase has been adorable lately - that kid says the cutest things. He is starting to get better at sentences, today he said "I love you Mommy" - so sweet! His favorite book right now is "Katy No Pocket" and he is starting to become afraid of things. He is currently terrified of the picture of a T-Rex in one of his books.

It's Too Dark!!!

I have the best Chase stories today.  He was hilarious all day long.

Story 1:  It's Too Dark!!!

This evening Chase was playing in our bed and he was making "caves and tunnels" in our bed covers.  He kept going in the tunnel and wanting Boris and I to go in too.  So I went in with him and pull down the covers a bit and his eyes got as huge as saucers and I asked Chase if he was scared and he said "YES!!!  It's too dark!!!".  After that he decided the dark was delightful and he spent them next half hour burying himself in the covers and covering his face.  He his now a big fan of tunnels - I should get him a tent.

Story 2:  Wipes for Everyone

Earlier Chase got ahold of a wet wipe and the first thing he did was go get his bear, wipe its butt and say "EWWW".  He proceeded to do that a zillion times (I even have video footage of it).  After that he used the wipe to clean the floors, carpet, couch, etc.  Apparently being a neat freak is genetic and can be passed to ones children.

Story 3:  Tickle Monster

Boris and I were tickling and rough housing with Chase and he would copy everything I did.  So I sat on Boris's tummy and Chase sat right in front of me and jumped up and down on Daddy.  Then I blew raspberries and Boris and Chase did the same.  Then I said I was the tickle monster and started tickling Chase and now he runs after Boris and I saying "Tickle Tickle" and making little crab hands at us.

Story 4:  Binkie Swear

Today Boris tried to teach Chase how to "pinky swear" so he kept saying "Chase to you pink swear?" and Chase said "Yes", pulled his "binkie" out of his mouth and gave it to Boris.

Easter

Chase had quite the Easter experience this year.  He is such a spoiled baby!  In addition to his basket he ended up with Farm Mega Legos and a Thomas the Train set.

Here is Chase at the neighborhood Easter Egg hunt.  It was really fun and there were only 3 kids in the 0 - 2 year age bucket so they all ended up with a boat load of eggs.  Chase didn't really get the hunt part at first - he would go pick up eggs and open them and let the contents drop to the floor.  It wasn't until the very end that he started putting them in the bag. He did find the special silver egg which won him some sidewalk chalk.

This morning we started the day by giving Chase his Easter basket.  He was very excited and he ended up dumping it all on the floor because he figure that it was the fastest way to get at everything.  Our neighbor had given us a pair of Elmo slippers which we had put in the basket and Chase was thrilled and wanted to put them on right away.   As soon as we put them on he decided that they were terrifying and he wanted them off - he is now scared of them (I think the stickers and candy and snacks were Chase's favorite part of his basket).

Later in the day the whole family came over for another Easter egg hunt (which Chase started before anyone arrived since the eggs were all over), brunch, and games.  Chase had a splendid time and he received a singing Easter bunny which he enjoyed at first but is now scared of (that seemed to be a theme today).