Life happens

Arizona's newest Jr. Firefighter

The splash park/public pool

Chase playing on his new "Cars" rug from Aunt Cassandra. He adores it!

Chase giving his new bff Mason a hug goodbye after going swimming

Chase attempting to drown himself

Chase coming down the tunnel slide. The toddler slides were his favorite part.

Mommy and her two little water babies.

Chase wanted to wear one of daddy's ties to church so Kyle tied one for him and we let him. He loved it despite the fact that it was half his size!

Chase playing with his wagon out in the rain.

Sweet sweet Landon. Being his own darling little self. He is such a little treat.

We have a lot of catching up to do. So I'll just get right to it. Two Wednesday's ago we had a playdate set up to go to a really fun public pool with some friends from our old ward. The morning of was running relatively smoothly. Chase was being very cooperative, and was SO excited. Landon was being his usual self, sweet and serene. I packed our lunches, sunblock, towels, snacks, and drinks. Both kids were buckled in, when Chase decided that it would be an opportune time to request his drink. So I went to his door and tried to open it, locked. He likes to stick his feet up on the door and lock it whenever he gets in the car (drives me so nuts). So I roll my eyes and open the passenger side door and click the locks to unlock all the doors, wrong way. After I'd already closed the door panic set in. I thought to myself, "No no no no, this is not happening." I had locked both of my children, my keys, and my only form of communication in the car. I ran out to the street looking to see which of our neighbors was most likely to be home. I saw that our Chicago neighor's car was parked out in front. So I ran over and knocked on their door. Luckily he answered. Trying to pull it together, I asked if I could use his phone to call 911. They take children being locked in hot cars VERY seriously in Arizona. Kyle had our only spare key, and he was 45 minutes away. The 911 dispatcher answers and asks what the emergency is, how old the kids are, how long they've been in the car, address confirmation, and telling me to stay on the line. Finally she asks, "how are they acting?" I said, "I don't know because I had to make the call from a neighbor's home. When I left my 3 month old was crying, and my 2 year old was laughing," (he thought my reaction was pretty darn hilarious). So she said, "okay, help is on the way, go check on your kids and let us know immediately if anything changes. It felt like it took a month for the firefighters to arrive. Up until then I was pretty well composed. As soon as I heard the truck barrelling down the street I broke down and started sobbing. The firefighters were wonderful, they got right to work getting ready to duck tape the window in case they had to smash it in. Luckily, it only took him two seconds to jimmy the lock. The firefighters let Chase get on the firetruck and take a little tour and then they gave him a little plastic firefighter hat. They even took the time to console me before they left. They were all very sweet.

After the drama ended and the firemen left we went inside the house. I considered canceling swimming, but then I decided that swimming was just what we needed so we got back in the car and headed out. We were so glad that we did! Chase had such a blast with his little friends Mason and Noah and I enjoyed catching up with Shelly. Kyle was so jealous of all the fun we had, that he suggested we go back as a family that same Saturday.

As far as the kids go, they are doing wonderfully. Chase impresses us more and more everyday. He's like a little sponge! He hears and repeats everything! He loves talking and talks our ears off constantly. He knows all of his letters now, all of his numbers up to ten, and his shapes including a trapezoid!

Landon rolled over for the first time a couple weeks ago and now he's a rolling fool! He loves talking and cooing and he is such a smiley little guy. He gets delirious at night and instead of getting fussy he smiles and laughs. Chase loves playing with him so much! Especially now that Landon will smile or laugh when Chase plays with him. He's a great older brother to his precious little brother.

In other White family news, I finally took the Nurse Entrance Test yesterday and I passed!!! Yay me! I have been contemplating/studying/procrastinating taking the test for about 2 years now. I finally decided a couple months ago that once and for all I WILL be on the waiting list for the nursing program by the end of the year (or hopefully sooner). So now the only thing I have left is to get my fingerprint clearance card (on my list of to do's this week) and then it's the waiting game. The waiting list is approximately 1-2 years long, ugh, but if I had gotten this done when I first wanted to, then I would either be in the program right now or just starting it. I've put it off long enough. I needed to move forward and get it done. So, I'm one step closer to getting my nursing degree, a dream I've had since elementary school.

Kyle is starting classes for his master's degree this Tuesday. I'm afraid we won't be seeing a whole lot of him for a little while. It will be so worth it though for him to finally obtain his master's and be eligible to sit for the CPA exam. It's been a long time coming.

On top of classes, Kyle is also training for a half marathon! Yay Kyle! He's very motivated for it and has been wanting to run in some races for a long time. Races are expensive though, and I can never bring myself to shell out the dough for them. Even though it's for a good cause, I prefer to spend our money on things like um, clothes and food. UOP pays the entry fees for their employees into all of these big races, so Kyle signed up for the PF Chang's Rock n' Roll Half Marathon in January.

Well I think that about catches you up. Until next time!

Boys Boys Boys

Landon playing in his papasan.

Swimming! Chase asks to go swimming everyday, and we pretty much have made it a daily habit.

Chase wanted Landon to wear his sun glasses, so this is Landon not loving it, while Chase sings the "cool cool" song he sings whenever people wear hats or sunglasses.

These past couple weeks have been a bit of an adjustment period for our family. Getting back on schedules since being in Idaho. Kyle going back to work full time. Finding my own little niche for taking care of two little boys on my own. Studying for entrance tests (Me). Enrolling in School (Kyle). The list goes on and on...

So, when it was time for Kyle's first day of work I was a little terrified. I had had him all to myself for so long to help with the boys and help around the house. I was sure that without him around, all of our little worlds would come crumbling down. After his first day of work, and my first day on my own with the boys, I thought to myself, "wow, this isn't so bad after all. I think I'll be ok." I am happy to say it's only gotten better everyday. I run errands with the boys all the time. We go from library trips, to the grocery store, to doctor appointments, and visiting teaching and for the most part it goes pretty smoothly. Whew! I've figured out how to work around both of their schedules, so that I can spend some mommy time with each of them individually, and they aren't both needing mom at the same time. So we're good there.

Chase loves Landon. Seriously, he adores him and wants to play with him SO badly. He's always asking to hold him and always playing peek-a-boo with him, and he's always the first to notify me when Landon is sad and needs me. He grunts, pulls on my shorts and says ,"Sad? Sad? Crying? Help?" until I go and get Landon. Still, we have to keep a very close eye on him. He climbs up on the couch next to Landon and will pretty much lay right on top of him. He kisses him all the time, even when his face isn't clean (I found some macaroni and cheese on Landon's mouth yesterday). Probably the worst is he likes to try to feed him. This morning I caught him giving Landon some licks of his peanut butter m&m, which Landon enjoyed, however I did not.

So here are a couple of Landon and Chase stories:

Kyle's family will tell you he has a thing with popping people's toes. He's done it to me since we were dating, and I hated it then but have just gotten used to it over the years. He started popping Chase's toes a couple months ago. Chase just whimpers and says, "pop? pop?" which is usually when I hear him, and come to put the popping to a stop. I was in the kitchen making lunch for Chase the other day and I hear him say, "Pop! Pop!" So I lean over the counter to see what he's up to. He had a hold of one of Landon's feet and was trying to "pop" his toes! Poor Landon.

Chase loves to sit right next to Landon wherever Landon may be. Landon tends to kick a lot and flail his arms about and get excited, especially when Chase is around. This results in a little "kick" or "hit" to Chase. Chase takes this very seriously and says, "OUCH! Hit?" and then takes matters into his own hands and attempts to pay him back. Poor poor Landon.

Last one...after Chase's birthday dinner we were sitting in the family room as a family, too full and allowing our food to digest. Landon started getting sleepy and fussy so Kyle went to pick him up and I said, "Oh, he's one sad little cupcake." then Chase said, "mmmmm, cupcakes". We thought it was funny.

Ok one last thing. Both boys had their doctor's appointments a couple weeks ago and I thought I'd post the stats in case anyone is curious.

Landon

Height: 24 1/2 in (85th%)

Weight: 13#2 oz (75%)

Chase
Height: 36 inches (85%)

Weight: 27#7oz (45%)

They're growing! Landon is such a wonderful baby. I often have to go into his room around the time I think he should be up, because he usually just lays in his crib looking around when he wakes up. I think the thing I love most about him though is that he's a nuzzler. When I pick him up, he nuzzles right into my neck. He smells so baby sweet, and has this full head of luscious, feathery soft hair that tickles my neck when he nuzzles close. Mmm, he's just plain delicious! I could have 20 more of him.

Well that's all for now. Chase has a "code brown" and he just joined me in the room to share the fragrance. Here are som pics!

Terrific Two Year Old

My three handsome boys!

When he sees the wagon coming out

Puzzles

Finger lickin' good! Digging in!

Trying to "drive" one of the sugar car decorations across the table. Didn't work out so well so he ate it!


Singing happy birthday both the traditional way and the "White family" way

(this is the "White" way)


Chase's mini cake and The big cake

Last Saturday, we celebrated two years of wildness and fun since our little Chase was born! He had been so excited for his birthday all week. Every time I'd ask him who's birthday was coming up, he'd throw his hands in the air and start dancing and singing, "Birth-day! Yeah! Yeah!" (sounds a lot like me when my birthday comes around). For his birthday we took him to one of the public pools close by, seeing as swimming is his ultimate fave thing to do. It was a zero depth entry (like a beach) and stayed at about three feet deep for the first half of the pool where there were geysers and a bunch of tumble buckets for him to play in. He had such a blast, and loved running over to the deep end and jumping off the edge for Kyle to catch him. Later that night we opened presents and had some pizza for dinner and a "Cars" cake (c'mon, would he have it any other way?) and ice cream for dessert. For presents he got a Mega Blocks fill and dump wagon from Grandma Diann and Grandpa Byron, three puzzles, some books, pool toys, and a pool from Nana and Papa. He was in heaven the entire day and went to bed with stars in his eyes from all the excitement. What a fun little two year old! Chase, we love you so very much and are so grateful for your sweet, spunky little personality in our home. You've brought so much joy to us since the moment you were laid in our arms. You're such a charismatic and genuine little boy and such a loving big brother. We look forward to many more fun and crazy years to come with you!

U of P you get the Whites!

Relax

Smiles!

Even bigger smiles whenever big brother plays with him!

Chase sporting my headband which he likes to call a "hat" to man it up a bit. Kyle could care less for this picture.

Chase holding his little brother. He loves being a big brother...usually.

Some if not most of you already knew that Kyle was laid off in May due to the firm he was working for experiencing a big loss in clients. They are a higher end firm that specialized in auto dealerships. With a lot of people hurting right now and the auto industry taking a big hit they lost a lot of money and had to do some lay offs. They laid off the newest employee in each department, which just happened to be Kyle in the tax department. It was quite a shock to us, especially because I was pregnant with Landon and the timing was not great. I couldn't say this at the time but I can definitely see now how this has blessed our lives and given us a new persepective on many things we took for granted before.

Kyle applied for many positions and he has finally been offered a position at The University of Phoenix in their finance department. He started training yesterday and has really enjoyed the change of pace so far. I am especially excited that we will hopefully never have to go through grueling tax seasons again, with him going into corporate accounting as opposed to private accounting. The company offers a lot of growth, and they seem like a solid company to work for. He'll be able to start school soon with free tuition, so he will be able to obtain his Master's degree and then be eligible to sit for the CPA exam. So, pretty exciting stuff for our family, we feel very blessed.

We decided to surprise Kyle's mom and show up in Idaho on her birthday on the 23rd of July. We put Landon on the doorstep and rang and ran. I think she was very surprised to say the least. We had so much fun seeing our Idaho family, most of whom we hadn't seen for over a year! It was a very fun visit and just what we needed before starting up the new job. I also got to visit my good friend Katy while we were there. Katy is to me like Diana Barry is to Anne of Green Gables, my "kindred spirit" if you will. She's awesome and super super talented. She's just getting into photography and is so creative with a natural raw talent. She graciously agreed to take some pictures of our fam and newborn ones of Landon, and she did an incredible job (see right side of blog for some of these little treasures)!

I have a lot more catching up to do but I think I will leave it at this for now. Here are some more recent pictures of the littleuns!

A long time coming...

We've been out of town for the past couple weeks, and I started this post awhile before that even. So it might be a little out dated, but oh well!


Chase's early birthday present. We gave it to him early so he can get some good use out of it before the monsoons start up too badly.

Chase giving Landon kisses

Both boys fixated on Baby Einsteins

Getting chubby and loving his bath time

We had a rough beginning. Chase wasn't too sure what he thought of the sweet mushy Landon who didn't do much more than eat and sleep. He used to get in his face and yell, "UP BABY!" when we first brought him home because I think he expected that if this was "his" baby too, that he should do something other than be a lump on a log. Boy, has he come a long way. He is so cute with Landon now! He loves to hold him, he's very protective of him, and he has to give him kisses every time before he goes down to sleep. He loves to roll his cars on him and he just has to be as close as humanly possible to his little brother. I think it's cute.

Landon on the other hand is growing so fast! Too fast. He feels like he weighs a ton! He's packing on the rolls and he's getting a lively little personality. I just love the newborn phase (minus the less sleep part)! He's so smooshy and scrumptious, and he's such a great baby. I would say I'm spoiled because of him, but Chase was pretty difficult, so I'll just say I've earned it!

Ok, so here's the blessing story. I hope I can do it justice considering I wasn't there for the good part. Our friends Amy and Ryan really tell it the best, but you'll have to deal with getting it from me. So here goes...

Let me paint you a picture. Sunday morning on the day of Landon's baby blessing, I was very tired. We'd been up late the night before and Chase had woken up early. Not a great mix. Kyle decided he'd go to church early to finalize things for the baby blessing and secure a pew that was front and center (we have a big ward). Our ward is at 2:00, and we like to put Chase down for his nap at 11:00 on Sunday, to make sure he can still get a good 2 hour nap and have plenty of time to get him ready. When Chase went down I decided it would be an opportune time for me to lie down. I had nursed Landon about an hour before we put Chase down so I knew he'd be hungry right about when we'd be getting ready for Church so I asked Kyle if he could do either one of two things. First choice was to wake me up at about 12:30 so I had enough time to get myself ready and then nurse Landon then get Chase ready. My mom and dad were there to help also, so I knew between the 3 of us we'd be on time if he woke me up then. Choice number 2 was that he feed Landon a bottle of milk I'd pumped before I laid down so that he didn't need to nurse right when I was getting ready. This would allow me a longer nap. Well, I fall asleep and Kyle comes in and wakes me up when he's leaving. It was 1:20! It takes 15 minutes to get to church on time. I was freaking out a bit. I asked him if he fed Landon the bottle in the fridge. He hadn't. I think to myself, "Self, you can do this." Bottom line is we could not do this! We get to church as the sacrament hymn is ending and a friend in the foyer said that they had announced Landon's blessing before the sacrament but then retracted it.

So here's what it looked like in the chapel when this had taken place. Kyle looking back every 2 seconds to see if we were there yet. No such luck. Palms sweating, shaking, feeling like he was going to vomit. The bishopric member stands up and looks at him and Kyle knows he's about to announce the blessing. He halfway stands and puts a finger in the air like, "uh, excuse me please" then preoceeds to go up to the bishopric and tell them that the man of honor is MIA. Apparently to those who saw this taking place it was a pretty hilarious sight to see. Kyle did not think so though.