First day of winter

Today is not only my birthday, but also the first day of winter and BRRRR is it cold!!! It feels like we have already had at least a month of winter considering how much snow we've had. I'm pretty sure we will be having a white Christmas though!


My hubby treated me to an amazing birthday dinner at Oakley's. I decided I wanted to go somewhere I have never been and Oakley's was highly recommended to me by a couple of friends (thanks Dave & Meredith!!) Everything sounded so good, so we had multiple courses and left feeling more than satisfied. I am so glad we tried something new!


I have asked for a DSLR for my birthday so I can actually start posting pics!! I now just need to figure out which one! Any recommendations??? Canon vs. Nikon vs. ???


Let me know any suggestions.

Pottery Barn Kids Sing Along

Today we met up with Allison & Olivia and Emily, Taylor, & Madison and headed out to PBK for a sing along.

Chase was quite scared when we first arrived, but decided PBK had some pretty cool toys so he quickly adapted. He was not so interested in the music today and decided to spend his time playing with the toys. The guy performing did a great job and there were definitely some other little tots very into singing and dancing.

After the sing along was over we headed to Cheesecake Factory for lunch. God bless the guy that was our waiter! With four toddlers I'm sure he was not super excited to see us, but you would have never known! He came with sliced bread and bananas upon our arrival. He must have some experience in this area!! We found out later he has three at home and one on the way. (I knew he must have some experience!) After we were finished eating it was closing in on naptime, so we said our goodbyes and headed home. Chase had a fantastic day hanging with his lady friends!

Chase's 2nd birthday party

Chase's 2nd birthday came so fast! I can not believe my baby is 2 already! He is such a big boy now! He loves trains, so naturally we had a train themed birthday party. I wanted to do some Thomas the Train accents, but I didn't want the whole party centered around Thomas. So, I found such cute invites and accessories from Parties by Hardie! 

                                           http://www.etsy.com/shop/partiesbyhardie


Since his party was around lunch time and I wanted to be a simple as possible with the food, we ordered pizza. Plus, who doesn't love pizza? I decided to do all of the other treats in blue and red. We had swedish fish and blue gummy sharks. We had blue and red popcorn from Just Pop In, one of my favorite places to get yummy treats. We did blue and red pretzel M&Ms. Chase loves his M&Ms! We also did blue and red Jelly Belly jellybeans. His cake was Thomas the Train pull apart cupcakes!!! Yummy! There was not a shortage of sugar at this party!

My sister made Chase the cutest birthday shirt with a number 2 in Thomas the Train fabric! My sister in law took all the pics, so I'm waiting to get those to add into this post. I will update as I get them!

I think by far his most favorite part of the party were his balloons!! He had a blast playing with them! I will admit I almost didn't get them, but now I'm so glad I did! He loved them, maybe even more than the trainset he got for his birthday!

Halloween festivities

This weekend we went to Jasper to visit my sister. This was the first time we were able to get Chase together with all of my nieces. They were all so cute. My sister planned a Halloween party on Saturday. The menu consisted of pecan crusted chicken tenders, spicy buffalo chicken wraps, spinach & artichoke dip, Waldorf salad, cheese, crackers, Sangria, and yummy sugar cookies that my niece Addie deocrated. Chase wore his Superman costume. Addie and Sophie dressed up like Minnie Mouse. Kinsey was a giraffe. We were a bit disappointed when we realized we did not get a pic of all the kids dressed up in their costumes. The kids had a great time. They got to decorate pumpkins and went home with treat bags full of toys and snack foods. Chase's treat bag came in handy on the three hour car ride home.

Trunk or Treat

Last night we took Chase to Trunk or Treat, an event held by our church every year for little ones to trick or treat. He had so much fun! He seemed to like suckers the most. Every stop where he got to choose his own candy, he always picked a sucker.

                                Chase is not quite sure about the yumminess that is in store for him

picking out more suckers

fishing for goodies

I think he got enough candy to last him a year considering he does not get to eat candy very often. I know daddy won't let it sit around that long though! I think it might last a week if we are lucky!

Weekend in Wisconsin

We spent this weekend visiting family in Wisconsin. My mother-in-law planned a special get-together for everyone to be able to meet Chase. Nana, Matt, Chase, and I left for Wisconsin on Thursday afternoon. After a flight delay we finally made it in to town and we're able to make it just in time for Papa's football game. We had to stop off at Target to get some hats and gloves because it was freezing (& who doesn't love a good trip to Target!) Chase absolutely loved watching the game. He was so intent watching every play. He loved being able to visit with daddy and Papa briefly during half-time. At the end of the game he got to run out on the field. After several minutes of playing (and being waaaay past bedtime) I finally pulled him off the field. He wasn't too happy about that, but he got to carry the football home and that seemed to do the trick. He even wanted to sleep with the ball, but we were able to sneak it out of his pack and play. First thing the next morning he said "football," which actually sounds more like "sh*tball" and started his day carrying around the football. The next morning we took a quick hike through the forest. The leaves at this time of year are amazing. Chase loved riding on Papa's shoulders.

Later that day we went to Kohler Design Center and then the ladies got to do some shopping across the way. Talk about a great afternoon! We met up with Aunt JJ and the boys for dinner. Despite the not-so-great service we had great food. We started the next morning getting ready for the party. My mother-in-law planned a fabulous menu. I got to meet some new friends and visit with some old friends. Chase had fun playing with some kids before finally begging for "nap time." After we put him down for a nap Matt and I slipped away to head to Appleton to meet up with Diron. We had a great time hanging with Diron, Mike & Amy, Aunt JJ, and Marty. Matt and I had to head back to Plymouth so we could head out early this morning. The rest of the gang is still going strong at the Packers/Vikings game right now.

We had such a great time! We can't wait to see everyone again in a few weeks.

Most Precious

My mom called me yesterday to remind me that today was the big day where the judges would announce the winners for the contest we entered Chase in last month. The contest proceeds benefit Riley Hospital and since my niece is a Riley baby I thought this would be a perfect cause. We entered him in the most beautiful and most precious categories for the one year olds. He did not want anything to do with having his picture taken that day. He was crying so hard and did not even let me put him down. He was holding onto me like a monkey. I was amazed with the shots the photographer was able to get due to his lack of cooperation! We picked two pics and entered those. I called my mom on my way to hear the judging and she told me they had already announced him as a runner-up for most beautiful for his age group. Right as I walked in they had just announced him as winner of most precious for his age group!!!! He got his first two trophies today! So cute! Plus they raised over $4000 for Riley! What a great cause! I brought his trophies home and showed them to him. He was so excited to carry them around even though he has no clue what they are or what they are for.

Here is the pic of the most beautiful:

And the WINNER OF THE MOST PRECIOUS:

Isn't he adorable? Maybe he has a future in modeling afterall! Best part is we get to keep all of the pictures (even the ones with him crying!)

Big office move

Matt spent last weekend moving to his new office. Chase absolutely loves the new office. We went there Saturday morning to check it out and he loved running around in all of the free space. He even christened the new office with crumbs from his blueberry muffin. What an exhausting week for Matt and the office staff. It's never fun moving. I hope they get all settled in soon and that the new hires will be a great addition to his already wonderful team.

What a bittersweet journey! Matt has only known one office and has been blessed with meeting so many wonderful people during the time he was there.Now it's time to move forward and go in a new direction. I know he will do wonderful things. I am looking forward to continue to watch him grow and support our family. He is such a wonderful provider for us. I continue to ask for God's blessings as we move forward.