Golfer Guys

Chaz was a great baby as we traveled to visit Grandpa and Grandma W. While we were there Christian was playing in a golf tourney with his dad. The highlight of the weekend was a hole-in-one during the tournament, by my hubby! Way to go, babe, we are all proud of you!

Celebrating afterwards by eating the game ball!

Getting cuddle from Gpa, because bedtime was lost in the celebration..tired little guy, but still ready to party!

Like Father, like son....

Wearing Daddy's hat and some more eating!

A little fishing was had, and lots of dreaming about a lake home...

At out favorite coffee shop at the lakes, Chaz seemed to really enjoy it too!

July has been a nice month for us. We had a great Fourth, the arrival of our new niece, Elle Marie, Nana visited for a few days and we are planning a visit to Grandma and Grandpas. Chaz has been doing all sorts of new things lately. He is really into "no" and shakes his head if he hears anyone say it, even if it is not directed at him. He has also just starting to cruise around furniture and can take a few steps with his push toy. He is not crawling, but gets everywhere with his army crawl/scoot thing! Not too much to report. We are just trying to enjoy the last bit of summer by grilling out with friends and getting together with family. Oh and the bathroom reno is wrapping up (thank goodness).

Chaz enjoyed his bath in the big tub with daddy. He was in there until his feet were prunes, and he didn't want to get out! He is a big fan of bath time - he now shakes his head "no" when I ask to hold him to get him out...little stinker, getting smart! Oh, and this one shows a great pic of his red hair.

Betsy, Matt and the little princess, Elle! She is a sweetie and is a good girl for her parents. We love you, baby!!

WOW! You forget just how little they are when they arrive! As much as I enjoyed holding her, I am still able to recall that uncertain feeling as I left the hospital 9 mos ago. And the sleepless nights that ensued - because they didn't end for almost 8 months....

Chaz and Charlee Jane. Just the names of these two mean they will be quite the pair someday! This is a precious "cousin pic." We enjoyed singing "I'm bringing home my baby bumble bee..." but nobody can remember the third verse - we just kept repeating ourselves. Chaz giggled and swung his feet tons - he loves swings and we have to get daddy out to see it too (he is jealous that he hasn't been able to yet).

Say "SPAGHETTI!" What a cheesy grin! My little eater enjoyed some spaghetti noodles. He loves food, but also had a ball squishing the noodles between his fingers. He now whines and looks at your plate during dinner because he much prefers to eat finger food than baby food. Also, take a look at little chomper's teeth. Four of em' now and more to come in the next month probably - they are just starting to swell.

Happy Fourth of July

First, I have to say that we have had two great weekends in a row. Last weekend we had nothing going on and totally just chilled all weekend doing nothing that didn't have to be done and just doing a few things we deemed "fun". Great! And then for the 4th we had a great time celebrating our 5th Anniversary! We went to the QC Thursday after work and Chaz had a ball playing with Nonnie, Papa and Unca Joe. Friday we had so much fun going on a big walk while Christian got some golf in and then headed to the pool for the first time (a big hit!!). Then, and here's the big deal, we went to a hotel for the night. Well, we started the night at Johnny's for a great meal - every course and great conversation! Oh and we were upgraded to the honeymoon suite - awesome! Then to a movie before we turned in. In the morning we went for coffee at a place that we had not been in 9 years and Chrisitian had been asking about for that long. It was totally relaxing and so much fun. The next day we went to cousin, Maggie's 1st birthday in Epworth, IA and celebrated with much of the McGovern family at a cookout. After that we did a quick meet up with a friend from work and then headed to the Nauman's to see Grandma Hansel (post knee surgery) and the rest of clan. The day was awesome. Aunt Kris and Uncle Randy, as well as everyone else, spoiled Chaz! He had a fantastic time and we enjoyed yummy stuff like Texas sheet cake and sugar cookies as well as catching up. We headed home late and let baby sleep in the car and carried him up to bed when we got home, after that we sneaked out for a view of the fireworks while papa manned the fort. Christian and I so needed this weekend! It was really great to have all the help with Chaz and he is at an age where is really starting to enjoy the rest of the family. Hope you all had a great 4th too!

With Grandma McGovern

Cousin Catie

Yes, this is Nonnie doing Zumba to "All the Single Ladies." I only hope to have a fraction of her energy when I am a grandparent

With Grandma Hansel


With cousin Coley! She is such a pretty one!




The Aunt with all the "good stuff" :) including the food!

Happy Dedication, Chaz!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Chaz's baby dedication on Father's Day. Both Christian and I got a little emotional as we promised to raise our little manny with Godly principles and teach him about God. Since the dedication we have had many conversations about how you bring up God everyday with your child (other than at bedtime prayer and meal prayers). We want to be intentional in the way that we parent and the type of childhood Chaz has. After the church service we grilled steaks for the guys and chicken and had a big cook out with the entire family. I should also mention that Christian did get a chance to celebrate being a Dad with a few gifts and golf Saturday morning...oh and a week off the early am feeding at 4:30/5!

Yosemite - warning picture overload!

"Pictures say a thousand words," or at least that is my excuse for doing a caption only blog. We are swamped right now as I have business meetings all next week (my first time leaving Chaz), and are beginning to undergo a massive bath remodel. Needless to say, I will be taking the red-eye home.

First time on a plane and he did pretty well! I had to capture the memory;)The beautiful cabin we were staying at.
Look at that hottie! Also, he was MVP of the backpacking trip! He didn't stop, need a break or get sick - all huge accomplishments... The "guys" all did an overnight backpacking trip. My Dad and brother, Mark, marathon runners, both said they don't know which was more difficult. Us girls did a little hot tubbing with wine - good by me.

The first morning my Mom making her delicious "crepes" I love this pic of her - she worked so hard to plan it all!


Oops! Little out of order - here are the boys before church, the day before we left for Yosemite.



Love this - what else do I say?

Nonnie has her hands full - of course, Chaz would like to taste it and Max wants to grab it and probably bang it against something:)

She's brave to be traveling like this!

Hot tub! We got the temp low and then put there toes in. Also, check out the skis all around the hot tub - what a cool idea. And now, after dipping in every night, I would like one myself.

And, now for the token shot - the one that we will all laugh at adoringly for years to come and torture them with at high school graduation and any long term girlfriends:)

This shot was riding an old steam train through the forest and the reason it was so special is because Nonnie was running up to the side of the train (it was stopped) and making silly noises/faces. Chaz and Max were really into it and were weak laughing. Apparently it was a hit because a few other tourists were taking pictures of them instead of the sights!

And the token scenic shot to prove that we were there....

Adventures of Parenting

So...we all make a few little mistakes along the way, and thankfully we can later laugh at most of them. This week, in an effort to move the bowels, Chaz was given a couple tablespoons of fruit nectar. Pear to be exact. This was doctor recommended, so I didn't think much of the whole ordeal until....Chaz jumped almost non-stop in the jumperoo for thirty minutes. He was already wound up, but this was as a high as a kite for him. I looked on the back of the bottle and I guess I should have looked closer before I bought the brand of nectar I purchased, because this one contained sugar. No wonder he loved it so much. On a similar note: Is it normal to have a 6 month old eat three jars of baby food and three (2 TBSP each) servings of cereal in a day? Just glad he has his appetite back after his ear infections.
My partner in this parenting had a pretty good story tonight too. In an effort to help me out with a cranky little one, Christian took bath duty. Well, the fruit nectar is working and Chaz had a messy one before he went into the tub. My husband, terrified by anything in Chaz's diaper, freaked out without me arounf. I had wondered what all that crying was about...At any rate, I joined bath time and upon walking into the bedroom I noticed a massive poop stained onsie and blanket. Christian had no idea about the onsie. And then he informed me that there was poop in the carpet too. Wonderful! So I get things squared away and go in to peak at my splashing cherub. And a cherub he was, as he splashed away in poop crumbs. My husband looked up and said "There are poop remnants in here. Should I take him out?" My response? Do you even need to guess? Chaz gets out of the tub, tub gets a good rinse, new water and cleaned off tub toys. We now have a clean little boy. Our poor little manny, hopefully one day he will forgive us.

Fun in the Sun!

Chaz is growing up so fast and is doing something new every week. Now he is shouting syllables "baba daaada a bab bob" you get the idea! Also, he now will roll across the floor to get to things and he is getting ready to scoot soon too.

This weekend Christian was very very busy planting trees. In all he planted four spruce and still has three elms. I tried to help too, but little man is cutting both bottom teeth and just wouldn't be put down! One tree that was planted was dedicated to Chaz. We want to take his picture next to it as he grows up.

Also, wanted to include some photos of Chaz's first time at the park with Aunt Bets and cousin Charlee. Charlee was actually pushing Chaz in the swing - just wait till next summer because I am sure park pictures will be vastly different! Oh, and cute Auntie is 8 mos preggo - too bad you can't tell!!