What did YOU did on National Pancake Day?

This is what we did...

We ordered Chase a kids meal for the first time, instead of just feeding him off our plates:
(If that looks like a ton of food, don't worry he ate the eggs, one sausage, and one pancake)
Chase enjoyed Pancake Day... and his kids meal... thoroughly:

He particularly liked the sausages (who knew?):This is what I ate: (Butterscotch Rocks pancakes... mmmm)

Tim was a sell-out and got Country-Fried steak... In his defense they came with pancakes on the side:





Fortunately, friends, if you missed National Pancake Day, you are in luck. This entire week is actually National Pancake Week. So you still have some time to observe the holiday.

Hope you have as much fun celebrating as we did...

Congrats!

Tim got called in to BYU this past week to pick up his comprehensive exams. He's been telling me for the past 3 months that he's sure he failed and he'll have to retake them. Not only did he pass (Yay, he can graduate!!), but he passed without qualifications. Of those in the program who pass, about 90% pass with qualifications, which means they pass, but they have to go back and write some papers and do some extra work to show that they know what they're talking about. 10% pass without qualifications, and are good to graduate. What this means is:

a) Tim is brilliant (I already knew this)
b) Tim doesn't have to find the time to do any extra work. This is really a huge blessing for us because between working full-time, finishing his thesis, doing consulting and freelance, teaching sunday school, and playing with me and Chase... Tim really doesn't have the time to do one more thing.

Also we're really excited that Tim has done so well, because I think he's really felt like the 'slacker' in the program. He's the only one who's been working full-time during grad school, and having a real job means sometimes grad school took a back seat. His exams came back in the top 10% and I think he finally feels like he's shown what he can do and how much he has actually absorbed from grad school. I am so proud of him!

(Sorry for the blog-bragging today, but we are so excited here at our house)

Congrats baby!!

Lava Hot Springs/Valentine's Weekend

Over Valentines weekend Tim and I went up to the hot springs in Idaho. We had such a great time! There is nothing quite like soaking in 115 degree water while it's snowing all around you. Lava is a tiny tiny town in the moutains- 4 restaurants, an ice cream parlor, a library, a gas station, a grocery store, and some houses. It was really quaint and old, and I enjoyed all the culture. It reminded me of Europe actually. (Dad, don't laugh). There were lots of moustaches, hats, and boots. Everyone knew each other and was really friendly.

We stayed at two different inns- both built almost a hundred years ago. Our first inn had private hot tubs you could reserve in the basement. The one they gave us had a little skylight and a waterfall, and all the water came straight in from the springs; we thought it was pretty neat. Our second inn had a bunch of hot spring pools right out their front door and we spent a lot of time soaking there. I spent a lot of time in the jacuzzi tub as well (our first hotel was FREEZING!). Other than that, we explored, eavesdropped on the town gossip, and drove to Pocatello once. I made Tim stop because I saw different kinds of pie flashing on a restaurant sign (Butter Burrs). I didn't end up having pie, but the cinnamon twist was delicious :)

We did our Valentines dinner on Thursday night before we left, and went to the Melting Pot. It took us two hours to eat, but we got the full 4-course meal and it was quite the experience. We had been wanting to try it for a long time now. My favorite course was dessert- we got the a milk chocolate fondue with a marshmallow swirl and cookie crumbs mixed in. Does life get better than that?? Dinner was really delicious, and I also got to wear a nice black dress and come without a diaper bag! (Funny the things that excite you when you are a mom.)


Here is Lava: (What you can see is literally the entire town)

Me in front of a huge old map at the first inn we stayed at. Notice the old furniture:
Tim by the Oregon Trail sign. I wanted to ford the river right here but my team of oxen were ill:
The Lava Hot Springs sign:
Me on the deck of our first inn, which overlooks the Portneuf river:
Tim surprised me by leaving a dozen roses on my seat in the car when we left for Idaho. I don't know where he gets his flowers, but he always buys the best ones.

We didn't take pictures of the springs but here is our second hotel and one of its hot spring pools in the summer:

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day, from all of us!

Love,

Tim, Katie, & Chase

Cameras

I officially hate our camera. It was great when it was just me and Tim and we sat still and posed for every picture. Now that we have Chase, ours is driving me nuts. Once I press the button it delays about 3 seconds, or sometimes says "processing" for like 30 seconds. Inevitably, by the time the picture is taken Chase is rarely still in the picture, and if he is, he's usually looking away, lunging at the camera, or has a stoned look on his face. I have to take about 50 shots to get one good one. Anybody with kids have a great recommendation for a camera that actually TAKES the picture when you press the button?? (a lot to ask i know)

I'm thinking about buying this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-SD1100IS-Digital-Stabilized/dp/B0012Y6958/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1P6WTE9K6D7RE&colid=2252I829QWASA

or this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Cybershot-DSCW120-Digital-Optical/dp/B0011EA9FA/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I6BY181CT4JI3&colid=2252I829QWASA

If you have any experience with either of them, please let me know!

Shots hurt

I felt so bad about Chase's immunizations yesterday that we stopped and got him his first ice cream cone.

Chase & his cone
Playing in itBig bite
He doesn't understand the concept yet that you have to hold it right-side-up
Mmmm!
Messy boy
A bath to clean-up (you can see 3 of his 4 bandaids. so sad!)
Daddy & baby
Daddy & baby playing in the mirror

Also, Chase had started getting his legs stuck between the bars of his crib. It really scares him, and he wakes up screaming bloody murder. It's hard to even get them out at all. We took down his bumpers at 6 months like doc said. If anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated!

Mischief

Chase has been busy recently. He can say 10 words consistently and there are a few more that he says, but we're not sure he knows what they mean (ie: "what?") He is about 6 months ahead in language development, so like Tim, may be speaking in complete sentences by 18 mos. We discovered this morning that his mysteriously missing binkys (about 20 of them) have all been thrown away. Tim found Chase throwing his binkies into his diaper pail and shutting the lid, which I guess, means "bye-bye binky. I'm done with you!" Not a bad deal for us. :) He's also done with bottles and I feel like all of the sudden I have such a big kid. Tim had some jugs of water on the floor full of water for his fishtank, and there was a tiny hole in the top of each. When he took off the lids to refill his tank he found about 20 cheerios floating on the top. Chase also threw a ball into his cereal today and I am pretty sure we have reached toddlerhood. If he had it his way, he would survive solely off bananas and mandarin oranges. He's toddling around and so far is quite graceful. I'm hoping to avoid knocked-out teeth and black-eyes as much as possible.

The end of this video is my favorite. Watch the very last clip very carefully (watch what he does with his shoulders and the sound he makes). I think it is so funny, but it is easy to miss. He's sure developing a 'tude.

(if you want to see the funny part, you can just skip to 1:25 on the video)