Da Boys

Enjoying a nice and cruchy rice rusk. Man, he loves hose things!

This is where I found Landon one morning when I had laid him down for a quick nap in our bed, surrounded by pillows so he woulden't roll off . He had wormed his way into his own little "Landon sized" nook (our headboard) and was having a ball!

Lovely Sunday walks. Chase's lips are blue from his fruits snacks, not because of the cold. It was a beautiful morning!





Ok, so here's an update on the boys for all of our family far and away (of course friends too, if you're interested). I was feeling extra inspired to blog about my boys this morning as I was laying on the couch with Landon sleeping tucked under one arm and Chase snuggling tucked under my other arm. For those of you who know Chase, snuggling is a once in a life time thing. He is the furthest thing from a "snuggler" that I've ever seen. I was feeling very blessed, and I just can't even come close to describing how much I love these little boys and the extraordinary spirits they have. They are such a joy to my heart! So we'll start with Landon's update first because I'm WAY behind on him. He has his 9 month appointment in a couple weeks and I haven't said a thing about his 4 or 6 month appointments! So really quick, here are the stats...

4 months:

Height: 27 1/4 in

Weight: 16 lbs 6 oz

6 Months:

Height: 28 in

Weight: 18 lbs 2 oz

He's just growing up so quickly! He's so sweet and tender. He loves to snuggle and gives the best little squeezes. He likes playing with my hair while he eats and will stop every so often to give me a sweet grin and show off those 4 pearly whites. He sits on his own now, crawls on all fours (so cute by the way) with the occasional army crawl, and goes from crawling to sitting and back and forth. He has started pulling himself up on things but doesn't stand on his own yet or cruise, just working out those muscles! He's so mischievious already, kind of scary. He likes to crawl over to baskets and tip them over so he can rummage through the contents. He loves being held and LOVES cuddling! I knew if I wished hard enough I'd get a cuddler someday. He eats finger foods now along with all different kinds of solids. His favorites are sweet potatoes and ham, any fruit puree, and banana oatmeal. He loves rice rusks, (he started on those at 6 or 7 months) banana cookies, and Gerber Grad puffs (peach, or strawberry apple). He likes being read to, and bath time (especially with Chase) is still his favorite time of any day. He says "Mama" and "Baba" (still no Dada, much to Kyle's dismay). He gave me the best Anniversary present ever by saying "Mama" for the first time on our anniversary (Novemeber 20th) at 6 months old! He said it once and I started making a big deal about it so he said it over and over again. He's so squishy and warm and I just love him and all his baby-ness to pieces!

Chase is becoming quite a defiant little guy. He's so smart and understands so much. He's VERY social and loves being around other kids and interacting with them. He asks every day if we're going to see "friends" that day and he looks forward to it every second when I say yes. He loves Little Einsteins more than anything. When he goes to bed he makes sure that Leo, Quincy, June, Annie, and Rocket are all going night night also. He yells "mission completion!" when he finishes building something (which he's very good at) or completing a task. It's too funny. He loves to sing, and he'll substitute his name for certain words in a song, which we think is pretty cute. He's very concerned about others and sensitive to people's feelings. He really loves playing with Landon now that Landon interacts with him a little more. They wrestle, (really) and Landon can hold his own pretty well. He is very independant and helps himself to snacks during the day. I'll hear him in the kitchen opening the pantry and going, "Hm? (clicks his tongue) weeelll," while he's deciding he even puts a finger to his chin. I don't know who he gets that from (me). He's so much fun! He makes us laugh all the time and keeps us WAY on our toes, but we just adore his strong and funny little personality. He's an amazing little toddler!

I think that just about concludes the long overdue update for the boys. They're amazing little creatures and I feel so blessed to be able to spend my days with them and watch them grow. Here are some new pictures!

Run, run as fast as you can...

Crossing the finish line

Going Strong!

Glad to be done!

Sharing the glory with his son

My gingerbread man did it! He ran the PF Chang's Half Marathon last month and did AWESOME! That's right, 13.1 miles!!! He said it was by far the hardest thing he has physically ever done in his entire life and I'd believe it! We had so much fun waiting for him at about mile 13 and were so ecstatic when we recognized our hard working runner coming toward us. Even though he wasn't going for time, he still killed it (in my opinion). He finished with a time of 2:17! He's inspired me to run more, and I've really enjoyed it recently. I notice a big difference on the days that I run. I'm happier, I get more done, I'm a better mom and wife, among other things. I recently signed up for Pat's Race in April and it will be my first race ever! It's only 4.2 miles (I start small) but I'm really excited for it. Who knows maybe one day Kyle and I will run the Disney Marathon together. That's really the only one I slightly have a desire to run in, but I do know that Kyle's ultimate dream lies in the Boston Marathon. Here are some pictures from the event...

Fort White

I just love that face! Pure JOY!

Don't judge my frumpiness! We'd been rolling around in our fort! I just love Chase's smile in this picture!

Happy chappy Landon!

Chase had just jumped under the blanket to "scare" us and well, it worked VERY well on Landon. I think he's peeing his pants in this picture.


Happy again!

I was on the floor playing with my boys on Saturday when I had an awesome idea. I was thinking back to my childhood and how much I LOVED it when my mom would get out a bunch of blankets and let us kids build a "fort". We'd sit in there and eat cookies or popcorn or some snack and play or watch movies or pretend like we were camping. I just remembered it being great fun and needless to say since we've been home from Arkansas Chase has really missed having a ton of cousins around to play with at any given second. He really needed some fun! So I pulled out a big blanket and draped it over our dining room chairs and we had a spectacular time!

Brand New Year

I have a free moment for once in a long time and I decided I would devote a little time to play catch up. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have even gotten to it now except that I have this nagging feeling that I really need to "journal" our past year. We usually do a Christmas card that I like to keep for our records, but I didn't even get the tiniest semblance of a chance to get one done this year. *Sigh* So with that said, here is a recap of 2009...

This year was huge for our family! We had a lot of big changes in our lives the first one being our new home. We love our home so much. Kyle and I often comment on how much we love the feeling in our home, the newness of it, and the fun we have renovating and decorating a home of our own according to our taste. We love being homeowners!

The second big change that happened for our family this past year was Kyle's lay off. It was a shock to us all and now we look back with such gratitude for one of our greatest blessings. Things had changed so much for Kyle as the firm underwent new managment and organization and Kyle was more and more unhappy as each day passed. We are so grateful for his new position at University of Phoenix. He absolutely adores his job and is praised almost daily by his manager for the hard work he puts in and his constant dedication. He works so hard to provide for our little family so that I can stay home with our young children and raise and nurture them. We are so proud of the strides he's already made in the short time he's been employed by University of Phoenix. The future looks bright for him!

The third and biggest change our family encountered this year was a beautiful little addition to the family. Landon Guy White was born on May 31st, 2009. I cannot even express in words how much he means to each one of us. He has the sweetest most loving personality I've ever seen in a child. He is constantly smiling and we just feel so much love emanating from his sweet countenance. What a blessing he is in our lives!

This year was a big year of growth for Chase. He learned his ABC's, how to count, talk , sing, and so much more. He's such a smart little boy who is charismatic and full of love. He loves reading "Moroni's" (The Book of Mormon) and saying prayers. He's come to love nursery and many times during the week will go put on one of Kyle's ties and walk around the house saying he's ready for nursery. One of his favorite movies that came out this year is "Up". You can frequently catch him pointing his hand in your direction yelling, "CROSS YOUR HEART! CROSS IT!" He astounds us with the knowledge he retains and his desire to learn. What a joy he is in our family!

I completed my application for the nursing program this past year and it has officially been accepted. Now comes the hard part of waiting and completing my co requisites before I am placed. Kyle is working toward his masters and has completed two of his courses thus far with straight A's! He's such a hard worker all the way around. He makes us very proud.

We took a few trips this year, mostly to visit family. Kyle, Chase, and Landon all got to experience their first trip (hopefully of many) to San Diego after Landon was born. My mom was so sweet to spontaneously plan the trip and treat us all to a MUCH needed vacation. It was AWESOME! In the summer we went up to Idaho and spent about two weeks catching up with Kyle's side and spending some time with them before Kyle started his new job. Then for Christmas we headed down south to Arkansas to be with my side of the family for a week and a half. We so wish we lived closer to family. We miss our families dearly!

The huge ward we moved into this year split recently and Kyle and I received new callings that keep us both busy (me more than him). They're the same calling in different auxillaries, as the secretaries in the Relief Society and Elder's Quorum Presidencies.

Kyle is gearing up for the PF Chang's Rock n' Roll 1/2 marathon coming up in just a couple of weeks. He's gained the endurance he needs for it and feels very ready. He's trained hard and we have no doubt that he'll do an awesome job.

I think that about sums it up for our past year of memories. I know I have other things to catch up on such as our holiday happenings, doctor's visits, and other little things but that will have to wait for another day. We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Here's to a brand new year ! We hope it's a great one!

We did it again!

Last year we couldn't help ourselves, we had to elf ourselves! This year we've done it again with Landon in the mix, and they've changed things up over at Office Max's web site, which has made things all the more hilarious. Kyle really doesn't like me right now for chosing the picture I chose of him, but seriously, that's the best part of the whole thing! He has no idea how much it makes my day every time I see this. Whenever I need a good laugh I come in and watch the video with Chase, which brings me to another funny story. The first time I watched the video, I had Chase sitting on my lap. When we all started dancing and singing he pointed to Landon with his eyes as wide as melons and said, "LANDON?!?!" Like, "what the? He's never moved like that for me?!" It was hilarious, I wonder what was going through that noggin of his. After we watched the video he ran over to Landon and started pulling on his legs and singing, "Nandon, Nandon, NANNNNNNDUUUUUUUN!" He was a little dissappointed that "Nandon" doesn't quite have those moves in real life. I hope you guys all get a good laugh out of it too!

Side note: If it goes to the Jib Jab greeting card site when you click on the link just go back to our blog and click the link again. It should have this candy cane striped Office Max logo as it loads the video. Enjoy!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/nK1BtTtYdNm2rPYXxqNU