Chase's 1st Birthday!!!

Did this really happen. My oh my it sure did! My baby turned 1 years old on December 5th. It certainly does not feel like he is one years old. Given the fact that he is the size of a 9 month old and has not even taken steps yet. I get comments all the time of; Is he really that old, he is so little. But those comments don't bother me a bit. He is the cutest darn kid in the world. I am not in a hurry for this kid to grow up. I can't believe it has been a year since he was born. I still remember the smile and tears I had when the doctor held him up and said it's a boy. I would have loved a girl just the same but I secretly really wanted a boy. We waited four and half years for him to come and we wouldn't trade him for anything. He had a very relaxing and quiet birthday. We just spent the day as a family and had fun playing together. Chase has really made a difference in our family. We all have so much love for him. I love to watch his older siblings fight over him and just enjoy everything about him. Chase has a ton of energy and is always moving and going. It is impossible to get this kid to sit still. It is a nightmare trying to grocery shop with him. Chase loves balls. He will crawl to the back door and whine because he wants to play with the basketballs that are outside. He will only eat what your eating. Getting him to eat "baby food" is a joke. He loves to be outside, even if it is freezing. His nickname around our house is Bubba. And he sure is our little Bubba's. We love you Chase more than you'll ever know. Happy Birthday!!!

Good Morning Birthday Boy!!!

Can I just open my presents now!

He was in love with the balloons

Getting help opening his presents was not a problem

With a football in hand he finally started to get the hang of it

Wow, what is that glowing

Note to self; don't touch the glowing thing!

YUM!!!

We went as a family (minus Mikelle who had feast of carols, plus Hannah) to the Christmas parade. It was really cool. Every car was decked out in lights and they had a ton of Christmas floats. Chase was in awe the whole time. It was a fun ending to his special day!

Happy Birthday Chase! We Love You!!!

Feast of Carols

Mikelle was asked and had the privilege of playing a part in the Feast of Carols. It is a tradition here the high school choir puts together. This was the 25th year that they have been putting this on. Mikelle played a princess. Steven and I were very proud parents as we watched Mikelle do a wonderful job and look so darn cute up there. She did great on her singing part and was a trooper during all the late night and early morning practices. It was a long weekend for her as they had performances Thursday through Saturday but she loved being a part of it. We are so proud of you Mikelle!

Walking up to the center of the stage with the other princess and princes.

Mikelle and her prince

The performance was so entertaining and we were served a six course meal throughout the evening.

Some of the cast

You did a great job Mikelle!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! For some reason I was really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. More so than other years past. I feel like this time of year we go a million miles an hour and the thought of having great food and relaxing while visiting with those that we love sounded heavenly. And that is just what it turned out to be. We went to Paul and Kristine's this year with the whole Kempton clan. Paul and Kristine planned and prepared a great Thanksgiving. We were excited to see John and Jessica and their kids who were home from Texas. We miss their family so much and it was so nice to see them. Our kids enjoyed every minute they spent with all their cousins. Paul and Kristine's home is now known to our kids as the fun house. They had everything imaginable to entertain kids. It was a very enjoyable and wonderful Thanksgiving!

All the kids enjoyed playing in the spa. Before long though most of the boys ended up in the freezing pool. Oh to be a kid again.

My gorgeous niece Brooke and I

There is just something great about men and doing the dishes

Grandpa and Chase

My mother in law Sue, Paul and Christy

Chase LOVES dogs

Later that evening we went to my parents house and ate delicious leftovers and played games. Then my mom, sisters Nacole and Jodi, Steven and I went to the mall at midnight. What were we thinking. Steven and I just wanted to see what all the hype was about and holy cow it was crazy. The lines alone just to get into the mall were ridiculous. We now know to never ever go to the mall at midnight again. It was pointless. It would be one thing if there were screaming deals but they were the same deals that were going on all day. We left about 1:30am only to wake up at 4:30 am to get to all the early morning shopping fiasco's. Steven and I both love black Friday. Little side note story: We got to walmart at 5 am right when they opened. Steven dropped me off while he parked. We had a set meeting place inside so that Steven could find me when he came in. We were wanting to get a certain something for one of our kids. I found out that in order to get this certain something you had to wait in a line at the front of the store. I went to check out the line and it was of course already forever and ever and ever and ever long. I couldn't get in the line yet because Steven basically threatened me to stay in our meeting spot until he found me. So that is what I did. While I wait there for Steven I am getting furious because he was taking forever and I knew that we were never going to get what we came for because they had limited quantities. So I finally spot Steven and as I am about to lay into him asking what took him so long he has this certain something in his hand. What in the heck. How did he get one. I swear my husband can charm his way into getting anything! The rest of the morning was very successful. I was able to get all my Christmas shopping done and lasted the whole day with only 2 hours of sleep.

1st Hair Cut

WOW, cutting his hair was a challenge. Not to mention that I was scared to death of messing up. But to my relief it turned out okay. Doesn't he look so gosh darn cute!!!

11 months

Only one more month and this kid will be one years old. Is that really possible. This year has flown by as does every year. Chase is a whole new baby lately. He had three teeth brake through all at the same time. No wonder he was miserable. Now he just smiles and laughs all the time. It is so enjoyable to watch him discover new things. He notices textures and sounds a lot more. He stood up on his own for the first time a few days ago and is getting pretty fast walking along the couch. His new favorite thing is the discovery of how to open cupboards and completely tear them apart. It's interesting for me to see that the more kids I have the more patience and tolerance I have for things. When he makes messes I just laugh and thinks it's cute seeing him wrapped up in the entire roll of toilet paper or seeing fishes dumped and smashed all over the kitchen floor. It's just cute! This kid brings so much joy into our home. Only mothers can understand how hard it is to describe the joy every child brings.

SUPERMAN...