Surgery

Thought I would write a quick update while Chase is in the middle of his SECOND 3-hour nap today. Gotta love that Lortab. Wednesday was a long day for us, but everything went well. The surgeon said everything went just the way he wanted it to. We were lucky to have one of the best children's hospitals nearby, and one of the best surgeons in the nation operating on Chase. Handing him over to the anesthesiologist to carry him into the O.R. was, so far, the hardest thing I've had to do as a mother. Sitting in the waiting room for several hours was a close second. Chase was very unhappy when he woke up from the anesthesia, but after four bottles, a full nursing session, and a handful of cheerios, the bottomless pit was much happier. He hadn't eaten since 8am and our poor guy was just starving. Once they took out his IV and patched his epidural site, and he had on his own clothes again, he was much more content, although he was pretty out of it the first night. Since then he has been feeling pretty good. Sometimes he is just happy as can be, and completely himself. And sometimes he breaks into hard crying that keeps him from breathing. We are trying to keep up with all his different bottles of medicine, and make sure that he feels as little pain as possible. I'm so grateful that my mom is here to help me, or I would be a wreck. Also I'm grateful it's the weekend so Chase can spend some time with his wonderful daddy.
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Couldn't resist putting up a few pictures of Chase before surgery. While we were waiting, Tim pulled him around the hospital in a wagon, which he loved. Unfortunately his gown included pants, so you can't see his cute little bum in the 3rd picture.

We love Primary Children's!! They were so great to us! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We have felt their power. Chase loves you!!

Playing with his tongue


Wondering if he should stand up

Playing on the christmas tree box (he loves this thing!)

tub

chew toy

I LOVE SCIENCE

Sleepy

"Why I am the Worst Mother Ever"

A picture book by Kaitlin Hemingway

Picture: Little child sitting in a bowl of brownie batter. Cupboards, walls, and doors of the kitchen covered in chocolate; mother in doorway.

Mother to Child: "CHASE, NO!" (Mother tries to be serious and stern)

Child to Mother: (huge smile)

Mother to Child: (breaks out laughing)

Child to Mother: (starts laughing too, and throws more batter)

[Repeat script above with picture of Child building sandcastles in the bathroom out of cat litter.
Text remains the same.

Repeat script above with picture of Child coloring on plasma screen T.V. Text remains the same.

Repeat script above with picture of Child sitting in tattered ruins of Mother's favorite jeans; scissors in hand.
Text remains the same.

Etc. etc. etc.]

This short book I just wrote may be fiction, but it is in fact based on reality. It is in fact, based on my life.

I do this all the time. (No, not build sandcastles out of cat litter.)

I am trying to teach Chase the word 'No'. Unfortunately, every time I say no, or try to reprimand him, he breaks into this huge grin and I remember just how adorable he is. And then I laugh. And then he laughs. And my authoritative parenting is, yet again, shot. Therefore, I have decided I'm currently on the fast-track to being the worst mother ever. I just can't say no. As of yet I actually think it's pretty funny... How much love must you have for someone to just be able to laugh at all the naughty things they do? It is quite entertaining to see how illogically I respond to this sweet little monster.

But, I do realize it could be a problem someday. I guess I should hope that Chase is a less-cute toddler than he is baby, and perhaps then I will learn to say no.

I think it would make a great book.

Finally!

Just came in a few days ago!

Quotes

I like quotes. I have a whole notebook where I write down quotes that I really love. These are some of my favorites and I read them a lot. Some of them aren't even really "quotes" per se, but they are things that have hit me as profound, and that have inspired me to change the way I act, and think, about some things. I love these so much I wanted to share them.

"The choices for us are to look at all the things we've lost or to look at the things we have; to become bitter or to become better; to live in fear or to live in hope. I've chosen to live in hope." -Lisa Beamer

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they return good for evil; they absorb deceit and cruelty, and they return only light and goodness. They stop the cycle of passing on the harsh, and in this way, they become His."

"When in situations of stress we wonder if there is any more of us to give. We can be comforted to know that God, who knows our capacity perfectly, placed us here to succeed. No one was foreordained to fail. Let us remember that we were measured before and found equal to our tasks. Therefore, let us continue but with a more determined discipleship. When we feel overwhelmed let us recall the assurance that God will not over-program us, he will not press upon us more than we can bear." -Neal A. Maxwell"

"Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully use you."-Luke 6:27-28

"Seek ye first the King, not the kingdom. When your heart is to the King, you will inherit the kingdom"

"If you fear too much; you love too little"

"Our ultimate purpose, is to learn to forgive people in the very act of hurting us"

"Your capacity to love must not be stirred by what people do"

"It is not justice we desire. It is grace. God will always give you far more than you deserve."

"There is something to learn from every person, every relationship, if you let it in. Other people can teach you wonderful things"

"It is emancipating to realize it is okay to let people be who they are. If God allows them this freedom, should I not also? You are never able to love what you are constantly trying to change"

"You are far more powerful than you realize women. When you stop worrying about if you're thin enough, or pretty enough, or good enough, and set aside these trivial matters, you will open your eyes and realize how powerful you truly are"

A little Update

Wedding desserts:
I made these for Michele's reception. I love making pretty desserts, so I was excited to try these. I was pretty happy with how the chocolate dipped oreos turned out. I used candy melts, and they came out pretty smooth and set nicely. I was not very happy with the cupcakes. The texture of the frosting was all wrong and wouldn't pipe evenly, and the ribbon wouldn't stay on, but maybe I will try again someday.






Chase:
Chase is crawling all over the place, and can pull to a stand. His new favorite toy is the coasters on our coffee table. He loves to pull everything off of the bottom of the bookshelves (Tim is babyproofing as we speak) and I am trying to stay one step ahead of Chase. I've started filling little baskets (see below) with toys, measuring cups, etc. and leaving them for him to find so that at least he thinks he's getting into everything and being devious. It's a good distraction. We'll see how long it lasts. His favorite word is dada although I think he has no clue what it means. We are teaching him to wave bye-bye, and to high-five. It is so fun to watch him learn. We bought his halloween costume yesterday and it is adorable! I'm going to try to refrain from putting up any pictures until Halloween


Remodeling:
Tim is currently tiling our bathrooms and repainting the walls. Everything is basically a mess right now, but the tile is all laid in our master bathroom and I love it! I am also excited to repaint our other bathroom. We attempted a "light sage" and it came out looking like mint chocolate chip ice cream. So this time we are going to try "smooth driftwood" (light tan). We'll see...

School:
Tim heads back to school tomorrow. He's taking Current Events and Media & Religion. They are his last classes before his thesis. I asked him if he was excited about school and he said "I would rather fall over dead than go back to school" (he was laughing as he said this). So... there you go. Although I know he is really excited to almost be finished. His company is still being great about letting him take off for his classes and we're really grateful for that.

I'm really sad not to be going back to school. It didn't seem like a big deal in January, but Chase was brand new and I didn't give it much thought. I kind of pull a sad face when we walk past the school supply aisle at Target. There is something about brand new notebooks and pens and taking perfect notes and organizing your day planner... I think the reason I became a teacher was just because I like school supplies so much. I've looked into a masters in Public Health (don't ask, I don't know) and think that might be something I'd like to do someday. For now, Chase is keeping me busy.

Projects:
I have been working on projects since Chase was born. Things I've said I was going to do for the last 4 years, but was always too busy to do during school. I just started on Chase's babybook (I swear I'm only going to scrapbook his first year and then I'm going to stop) and I've been archiving all our photos from the past 3 years on cd (in case my computer crashes). Finally we printed off about 500 photos as costco, and I'm putting them into albums. It seems like there is always something to do. I thought I would be bored staying home all day but it hasn't happened yet.

Oh and also, we bought a 9 foot Christmas tree last week. We are pretty darn excited about it, and Tim even let me listen to Christmas music on the last day of August... I love him.


-Katie

New York!

Tim's parents are serving as mission presidents in Rochester New York for 3 years, so we went out to visit them last week. We were especially excited for Chase to meet Tim's dad for the first time. We just got back and we had a really great time. While we were there we went to all the sites in Palmyra and saw the Grandin building, the Sacred Grove, the Hill Cumorah, and the Smith farm. It was really peaceful and the area was just beautiful. I had forgotten how gorgeous it is out there; everything is so quaint and green and perfect. We really enjoyed all the tours, and seeing the Hemingway's cute little missionaries!

Tim's sister Michele also got married in Palmyra while we were there! She was kind enough to plan her whole wedding around when our tickets to New York were, so that we could make it. We were so grateful to be able to be there. The day was just gorgeous and everything turned out perfectly. Michele was pretty darn stunning in white :) There were a million people staying at the mission home for the wedding, so that was a lot of fun. It was a great big sleepover. Tim and I were lucky enough to get the General Authority room instead of the bunkbeds in the dorms downstairs :)

We spent a day at the zoo in Buffalo, and at Niagara Falls, and we were able to celebrate Lee Ann's birthday with her. We went to the Strong museum of play with Tim's old roommate from BYU who is from New York (who also doubled with us on our first date!). It was an awesome museum, and even though we're not kids we had a great time. They have all kinds of fun random things to play with, and funny optical illusions.(Pictures below)

Tim and I fell in love with the grocery store 'Wegmans' (basically a Whole Foods and a regular grocery store combined in one). If they had them out here I would go every day. We also watched a bunch of Cary Grant movies that Lee Ann had. After seeing the first one I pronounced that I was madly in love with Cary Grant. Tim then pronounced that he was dead. Sad day!

We ate far more ice cream than we should have, and we enjoyed seeing Chase interact with his grandparents. He had so much fun with them, and loved all the attention. It was so good to see them. It feels like they have been gone forever, but we are so happy that they are serving in New York. Thanks to the Hemingways for a great time. We love you and miss you!

-Katie

Smith Farmhouse
Sacred Grove

Niagara Falls

The Wedding!

Museum of Play (sideways room)
(news station)

Grandpa & baby