Denver September 2011

Well, as late as this post may be, at least it's here finally! My goal is to get completely caught up on our blog before the baby comes (more nesting to do, I guess). So, here is a fun post about our trip to Denver back in September. We actually left for Denver about three days after we got home from San Diego, but you wouldn't know it from this blog:)

Ben had a work retreat somewhere in the mountains that he attended for four days while we were there. That left Tommy and I to spend some wonderful time with Stephanie, Grandma, and Grandpa.  We spent the whole week Chatterton-style:  totally chill and restful.  We went to the park, played outside in the sandbox, and shopped at our favorite thrift store.  We stayed home a lot and played with cars and trucks, watched movies, and went for short walks.  It was a great week.  The videos and pictures tell it best, so I'm just going to post those below.  Enjoy!

This is Grandma and Tommy at the grocery store.  I think it was one of Tommy's favorite outings all week.  They have these super fancy cars for the kids to ride in.  It has a little TV on which to watch cartoons, plus the regular steering wheel and the doors that open and close.  Tommy felt like a king.  At one point we picked up a sample of strawberries from the produce department and Tommy just sat back, ate his snack, watched some TV, and enjoyed being pushed around the store in style.

This is a pretty typical evening at the Chatterton's.  We love spending time there because we get to relax and catch up on our favorite TV series.

Here are Stephanie and Tommy together.  Steph was Tommy's best friend the entire week.  She was so cute to play with him whenever he wanted her to (see the video below about playing Rumble).  Every morning when Tommy woke up his first question was always, "Where's Stephanie?"  If she was still sleeping he had a hard time waiting for her to wake up and come play.  Thanks, Steph, for being such a cute aunt and friend.  Below are a couple of videos of Tommy playing with his best buddy.

Here is a video of Tommy playing with Grandpa:

And one of Tommy playing a duet with Grandma:

We love you, Chattertons, and we can't wait to see you again soon!

Eat Your Heart Out

This post is dedicated to the cuteness that is Tommy.  He really is such a sweet boy who makes us laugh constantly and amazes us with how smart and thoughtful he is.  He takes good care of his mommy by giving me back rubs and making sure nothing is bothering me.  He loves his daddy by giving him snuggles and playing Wrastle Ball with him.  We love that boy more than anything.



Here are a few recent quotes from Tommy:

Daddy:  "How much do you love your mommy?"
Tommy:  "I like her two times."
Mommy:  "How much do you love your daddy?"
Tommy:  "I like him two times with a baby."

A few days ago Tommy had a sick tummy, but he kept eating chocolate candies.  He said, "Chocolate is making my tummy feel much better."

While driving around and looking at Christmas lights Tommy kept exclaiming, "Oh gee, that's a lot of lights!"

Here are a few cute videos of Tommy.  The first is to show off how great he is at riding his bike now (he begs me every day to ride his bike) and the second is a silly laugh that he does when he is particularly delighted with something.  Enjoy!


I don't think there is anything better than a picture of our angel sleeping. Makes me want to go to sleep just looking at how peaceful he is.

December 2011

This has been a very productive month!  I'm actually shocked since I'm so pregnant.  I didn't think we would do much in December, but that nesting instinct has taken over and proven otherwise.  There are so many things I want to get done now because I'm worried I'll never get to them if I wait until after the baby is here.  In reality, if she came today we would be totally ready and fine, but since she isn't coming now I keep thinking of projects to do.  Oh well.  She better get here soon.  I'm getting tired:)

Some things we have done include replacing the light fixture in our bathroom (that has been in the works for a solid 16 months or so), purchasing and painting a dresser and nightstand for Tommy, canning 40 pounds of beef, and basically being totally OCD about cleaning and recleaning my house.  The only downside I can see to having the baby at home is that I feel a bit panicked about making sure our house is clean from top to bottom, and that it stays that way constantly since we don't know exactly when the baby will come.  Here are some before and after pictures of the dresser we bought for Tommy's room:

Anyway, we have also had a lot of fun this month.  We went to the Mesa Temple and we went to Zoo Lights.  Tommy loves Christmas lights as only a 2-year-old can.  It makes the season so much more special and fun that he is totally into it.  I was a little bit skeptical about going to the zoo to see the lights since it seems just downright weird to go to the zoo in the dark when all the animals are inside.  But, the lights were pretty amazing and the atmosphere was so festive.  Did I mention how awesome it is to walk around and see Christmas lights dressed in a light jacket?  Most of the lights were animals, so we found this giant lighted Stay Puft Marshmallow Man slightly disturbing. 

We celebrated Ben's 31st birthday this month by eating pizza and homemade apple pie.  I celebrated by buying our little girl this adorable dress (she is going to bankrupt us).  Tommy insisted that we sing "Happy Birthday" before we open each and every present.  It was a lot of singing.

Here is a video of Tommy kickboxing:

And, of course, the token video of Tommy wrestling with his friends. Amazingly, neither the tent nor any of the boys suffered permanent damage in the filming of this video.

But We're S'posed To...

Just a little story from this morning...

Tommy has been REALLY good about leaving the Christmas presents alone.  We have a pile of them under the tree now that the packages came in from the grandparents (thank everyone, you have really spoiled us this year).  Tommy will tease us once in awhile about how he's going to open the presents, but he is always really good when we tell him we have to wait until Christmas.  I've been impressed.

So this morning he found a present that I left on our bedroom floor that I wrapped last night.  He waited until I was stuck on the potty and then he came into the bathroom with the gift and stood just out of my reach.  What a tease.  Our conversation went something like this:

Tommy:  "After you are done going potty can we sing Happy Birthday?"  (He knows that's what we usually do before we open presents.)
Me:  "No, Tommy, that's a Christmas present.  We have to put it under the tree and wait until Christmas to open it."
Tommy:  (Now pouting as he pulls up one corner of tape and threatens to look inside the present) "But we're s'posed to open it."
Me:  (Getting frustrated that I can't take the present away from him) "No, Tommy, it's supposed to be a surprise on Christmas."
Tommy:  "No, it's supposed to not be a surprise!"  (Still pouting)

This went on for a few more exchanges of him saying we were supposed to open the present, me trying to convince him to put it down.  In the end, he only pulled up one side of tape and pouted as I rewrapped the gift and put it under the tree.  I was impressed he didn't unwrap it any further.  What a cute and naughty little boy:)

Thanksgiving and What We've Been Up To Lately

We have done so many fun things lately!  The weather has finally cooled down.  (Actually, it's colder than I ever remember it being down here.  That, or we have finally acclimatized to the hot Phoenix weather and we are now pansies.)  We spent Thanksgiving with some friends from our ward, the Allens and the DeGraws.  None of us have any family in the area, so it was nice to spend the holiday together.  We ate an amazing spread of traditional Thanksgiving goodies and then hung out, watched football, and let the kids run wild.  We spent a solid 5 hours at the Allen's home and enjoyed every minute of it.  Tommy cried as we left because he wanted to stay and play with his friends some more.  Below are pictures of Tommy helping me make rolls Thanksgiving morning, Tommy and McKay watching football together, and our darling family as we let our feast digest.  

Tommy and the other kids had a blast tackling each other on pillows they threw down from the beds upstairs.  Tommy and McKay are best little buddies.  They act like brothers.  Miraculously, nobody got hurt in the making of this movie.

Two days after Thanksgiving we went to the Mesa Temple Lights.  It was the first time in a three years that Ben and I have gone.  The grounds were beautiful, the company was great, and the weather was perfect.  It's so fun being able to see temple lights without bundling up in 50 pounds of snow gear:)  Tommy was so entranced by all the lights and by the nativity scene.  We've had a lot of fun this year seeing Christmas through our little boy's eyes.  It makes everything so much more magical and special.  Tonight as he fell asleep I asked him what he was dreaming about and he said, "Christmas."

We just got around to putting up our Christmas decorations last weekend.  Tommy kept getting excited and yelling, "Happy Halloween!"  It took a little bit of work, but within a few hours he was saying, "Happy Christmas, everybody."  We'll take it.  This was the earliest we have set up Christmas in our married life.  I think that having a baby on the way is making us do things earlier than usual so that we are sure to fit everything in this season that we want to do.

Isn't this the most handsome picture of Tommy you have ever seen?  On Sunday morning he was being kind of a pill until I changed him into his church clothes.  Then all of a sudden he stood up straight, talked politely, and gave me lots of hugs.  He kept saying, "I am a daddy!  I Honey."  He loves to look like Daddy.  I call Ben "Honey" a lot, so Tommy kept saying that he was Honey.  So cute.  He looked just like a deacon or a missionary on Sunday.  Sometimes I can't believe how fast he is growing up.  He LOVES Christmas lights and decorations so much.  He wants the lights on our tree to be on all day long and he gets tickled when he sees lights on houses as we drive around.

This video was also taken on Sunday.  Late church and no nap are a hard combination for a little guy.  I thought for sure he was going to face plant into his macaroni and cheese and by golly, I was going to be there to catch it on tape!

This entire pregnancy we have told Tommy that the baby would be born when the weather got cold and Christmas came.  Well, the weather is definitely cold and Christmas is fast approaching.  I can't believe I'm in the last 3 weeks or so of this pregnancy.  When I first got pregnant I kind of lamented the fact that the baby would be born during the holidays since I thought she was doomed to have a horrible birthday, no matter what.  However, in the last few weeks I have decided that this is a great time of year to have a baby!  It's cool outside, there are tons of things to do to make my mind off the pregnancy, she will always get to celebrate her birthday around the time we celebrate that of Christ.  It's so festive and cozy and magical.  We are focusing a lot more on Christ, service, and love recently, which adds such a wonderful spirit to our home and our lives.  I am convinced that this is the best time of the year to have a baby.  Here is my most recent pregnancy shot.  I am 36 weeks here and still feeling great. Tired and big, but great.

San Diego - September 2011

I guess it's about high time I updated our blog about our busy month of September.  We did a lot of traveling that month, which I highly recommend to those living in Phoenix.  September may be my least favorite month here on account of the weather.  It's already been hot for several months and the relief of cooler weather still seems out of reach.  So, we got out of town and it was great.  We kicked off our traveling month with a trip to San Diego for three days.

We go to the Blessed City every six months or so.  It's our favorite getaway spot.  We do nothing but play on the beach while we are there.  It's the most relaxing and enjoyable thing we can think to do.  This time it was a little bit chilly on the beach, but it actually felt great to have to wear a jacket after enduring searing heat for several months.  We went to a different beach every day and played in the sand until we got hungry and had to leave to get food.  Our favorite beach was the last one we went to, Del Mar.  It was much less touristy than the other beaches like La Jolla and Ocean Beach.  Because it was a bit chilly we had basically the entire beach to ourselves.  We pulled out our buckets, shovels, and balls and just played and played.  It was like a dream.  And, gratefully, our car didn't break down this time so we were able to enjoy all three days we had to the fullest!

On the drive to San Diego we gave Tommy a little road trip present.  It's a tradition we started this past summer that kept him happy and occupied in the car.  It was nothing more than a small green Hot Wheels fire truck, but that thing kept him occupied not only in the car, but throughout the entire trip.  He played with it on the beach, in the hotel, in the car, during meal times.  Best $0.97 we've ever spent!

I wish we could somehow capture the feeling of relaxation in a video.  The sound of splashing waves does a pretty good job, but I always feel like I leave my stress and anxiety on the beach and come home feeling a lot happier and a lot lighter.  We spent precious time together as a family without any distractions.  It was just what a vacation should be.  Below are a couple of videos of the things we did the most on the beach.  Tommy and Daddy dug lots of holes, made lots of tunnels, and built lots of sandcastles.  Tommy and Mommy played a lot of "football", which was really just Tommy running around with the ball while I chased and tackled him.  We searched for cool rocks and sea shells, played "football net" (volleyball with a football), and challenged each other to soccer games.  For the record, Ben beat me in soccer every time, but I blame that on being pregnant:)  We had such a great time together and hope we can go back to relax on the beach soon!

Halloween and a Few Other Updates

First, the fun stuff:  Halloween.  We had a great time this year because Tommy understands the implications of both "party" and "candy".  He was a great sport to wear his Halloween costume, even the hood.  Watching Tommy love Halloween made me love it more this year.  We had our ward Trunk-or-Treat the Saturday before Halloween.  I sat in our trunk and handed out candy to the kiddos while Ben took Tommy around the parking lot to gather candy from other trunkers.  He came back with quite a haul.  And, as always, we all got lots of great compliments on our costumes (thanks, Sharene!).  In the picture to the left we made the mistake of trying to get Tommy to wear his hood and he wasn't very happy about it.  He just wanted to eat corn bread and drink rootbeer, I guess.  We finally got him to wear the hood when the trick-or-treating began.  Ben said he has never heard so many people say the word "cute" so many times.  You have to admit, Tommy is the cutest little frog the world has ever known.

The next morning I decided to actually do something creative and festive so I pulled out a Halloween gingerbread house that a friend of mine left behind when she moved.  I figured it couldn't be that hard since the kit included everything so Tommy and I sat down to give it a try.  Boy, was I wrong!  This was the first, and possibly the last, time I have attempted a gingerbread house.  Neither myself nor Tommy had the patience to wait for the frosting to dry so the walls and the roof would stick together.  I finally just gave Tommy slabs of gingerbread and let him slather frosting and candy over it however he wanted to.  It was probably one of the most fun activities we have ever done together.  By the end Tommy's plea of, "Mommy, decorate with me," turned into, "Mommy decorate me."  When I decorated his nose with orange frosting we both laughed so hard that it was difficult to snap the picture.  You can see his mouth is black from eating the frosting.  By the end, we had quite the mess to clean up, but it was well worth the fun time together.  Ben even ate some of the "house" and said it didn't taste too bad.  Yuck:) I have no idea how old that kit was.

Ben took Tommy out trick-or-treating for real on Halloween. They just went up and down our street, but they came back with quite a bit of candy. Tommy loved it and has loved eating candy at every meal since then:) I stayed home and passed out candy. We only got about 30 kids the whole night. Oh well, more candy for me and the baby!
This is Tommy playing with our one and only Halloween decoration. Next year I have a feeling I am going to have to be a lot more creative and decorative!

In other news, I am now officially past the seven month mark in my pregnancy. Here is a picture of me right before I hit 31 weeks. I know the stripes are supposed to hide the fact that my belly is big, but believe me, it's big.  I am still feeling good, but I am definitely slowing down quite a bit. I get frustrated that I can't do everything I want to do and that I have to sit down and nap more often than I feel like I have time for. I guess that's what happens in the third trimester. Overall, my pregnancy has been very textbook perfect, so I am grateful for that. I had a dream last night that Lily came out a dark, shaggy haired boy that was 14 pounds and 30 inches long. Let's hope that dream doesn't come true!

Tommy is doing great in his big boy bed now.  He is really good at staying in his bed and not waking up at night.  The only problem we have run into the last couple of nights is that he doesn't actually go to sleep in his bed when he is supposed to.  We put him down around 7:30 and check on him around 9:30 to find that he has been playing very quietly in his bed with his trucks for the past two hours.  No wonder he is so tired during the day!  But, at least he is staying in his bed!

We planted some citrus trees in our backyard today!  Tommy and Daddy did a great job making a big hole in our rock-solid dirt.  Hopefully we'll have some lemons and oranges to show for it...in a couple of years.