We love Saturdays!

Saturdays are such wonderful days! There is nothing better than waking up, staying in pjs, turning on cartoons (maybe a bit premature) and just having fun!

Chase loves to play with the pots and pans when we are in the kitchen. He loves the noise that each of the things make. Between the three of us, we can make a pretty good percussion section :) Before too long, Chase will be helping Matt cook eggs.

Road Trip!

These blog posts are all out of date but I guess that's what you get when you wait a month to update. We went to Dalton, GA to visit dear friends of ours who moved there during the summer. They live on 18 acres in an absolutely beautiful home! We couldn't stay but for a night but we had such a great time! It was so good to see them! I miss my Hartley boys!

Needless to say, Hogan had a blast running round. Susan and Michael have two dogs, Bentley and Sage, and Hogan spent the whole time chasing them. They are good sports about it, that's for sure!

Thank you Hartleys for a weekend of fun!

Hogan having a blast

Chase and his John Deere

Owen giving Chase a ride

My two boys!

Oh, I love him!

The Hartley crew

Fun on Saturday morning

Chase's new ride!

H-A-L-L-O-W-E-E-N

We had a great time dressing up Chase for Halloween. Needless to say, we had a great time, but the little bug? Not so much. He was a great sport considering he was tired and overdue for bed. We went up to the neighborhood party at the pool then over to our good friends Scott and Jacci to get pictures of the boys. Scott and Jacci's son, Jack, is just 5 weeks older than Chase. We live in the same neighborhood, have same age boys and go to the same church. And all a random coincidence. Here are some pictures of the fun night!

(In Chase's defense...his tiger outfit had padding to it so it looks like he is bigger than he really is :) )

Scott, Jacci and sweet Jack

How precious is he???!!!!

I think they were done...even the milk duds didn't excite them :)

Mom and her butterbean!

Sunday School

In Sunday School the other day, a friend played a song for us. The book we have been reading is all about raising our children in a Godly way and this song tells us exactly how we should be. Great lyrics and you can listen to it below.

Probably my new favorite song...I had heard it in the past but hadn't actually listened to the words. Such comforting things to remember.

Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head, for love is passing by
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus and live!

Now your burden's lifted
And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain, so
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus and live!

And like a newborn baby
Don't be afraid to crawl
And remember when you walk
Sometimes we fall...so
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus and live!

Sometimes the way is lonely
And steep and filled with pain
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain, then
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus and live!

O, and when the love spills over
And music fills the night
And when you can't contain your joy inside, then
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus and live!

And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory's side, and
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus and live!

Pictures from Chase's Baptism - Oct. 10, 2010

Both families here to celebrate!

Our sweet family...

With Gigi and Papa

With Nana and PopE

I love Happy
!

Happy 8th Month Birthday Chase!

Wow! Where did the time go?! Chase is already 8 months old! I cannot believe it. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital all wrapped up in a blanket and walking in the house wondering, "what do we do now?!" Over the last 8 months, we definitely have learned a lot about child rearing...more lessons to follow, I know!

It is hard to imagine that you can love someone so much. The love between a parent and a child is amazing and so strong. Chase is a blessing to us and we look forward to the many years to come.

So what is Chase up to now a days?!

*He is now into crawling and pulling up on things. You can't leave him for a second without him trying to climb up on something. Needless to say this has caused a few bumps but he is learning his way around!

*He still Army crawls a bit and boy can he move! You can walk away and he'll be at your feet in no time. As of yesterday, he has started to crawl much more. Matt and I still need to baby proof the house...

*Chase is now in a big boy car seat. We went to Babies R Us yesterday to get a car seat for him. He went for a flu shot last Thursday night and I asked them to weigh him. He weighs 20 lbs 8.7 ounces, so he can move up! Still rear facing but a step up! The infant carrier was getting to be a little much for me to carry and he actually started to hate it. He still has it when he's in Matt's car (because car seats are so dang expensive) but my guess is he won't have it long there!

*He now says mama. Of course, he doesn't know that I am "mama" but that' s ok. I still pretend that he does :) We are trying out the dada but "d's" are harder.

*He has pretty much gone through all the baby stage 1 foods. With the milk protein allergy we were a little worried about bringing foods on too fast, so took our time. So far he likes everything except peas. And sweetie, I can't blame you there!

*He was baptized on October 10th and he was a charmer! He was so good during the service!

*Chase has 2 bottom teeth and 2 coming in up top. He is SO good about the pain with them. It seems he has a high pain tolerance like his mom!

*Still not sleeping through the night but mom and dad don't mind. We actually are used to waking up and working on little sleep :) so it's not a problem getting up. We've tried to make him cry it out, but he cries for an hour and a half and that's miserable to us. He'll grow out of it by the time he's 13, surely!

I think that's about it! I hope to be better about keeping my "record" updated with what he is doing!

Pictures to come later!

We love you Chase more than you'll ever know!

My goal...

I am on a mission to lose this baby weight. I can no longer pull the "I just had a baby" routine...he's almost 8 months old! In my defense, it was hard to work out during the summer. We were paying someone hourly to watch Chase and I just felt guilty paying for an hour while I worked out. But, I was at a point where I needed to do something.

In 2004 (I think), I ran the Kiawah Island Half Marathon. My goal? To run the whole way. And did I? HECK YEA! Of course, at the end, I couldn't feel my limbs but I did in fact run the whole way.

So now I am motivated to do it again. In DISNEY WORLD!!!! How fun!!! Slight problem...I'm somewhat behind the 8 Ball. As of 3 weeks ago, it had been a good year since I had run. I ran a little bit when I first got pregnant but then used the pregnancy as an excuse.

IF I have the nerve to sign up for the run, I may not be able to run the whole way. I have worked my way up to 3.2 miles, but that is a long way from 13.1.

Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted!

Hilton Head 2010

Little man loving the blue chair!

Taking the family on a joy ride in the golf cart...

About to head to the beach. Watch out ladies!

Poor thing...he was so exhausted. He loved the pool but needed a break.

And I'm not quite sure why the pictures below are organized the way they are. Again, don't have the patience to figure it out! These are from Hilton Head. Matt and I went parasailing on Sunday and Matthew and Leslie went with us. On Saturday, we watched the Clemson/Auburn game...close one :(

Are we still here?

I have to say that I have seriously debated about whether or not to continue this blog. As I sit here, just home from work, with a stack of clothes a mile high, an upstairs that needs to be vaccumed, butternut squash in the oven for Chase's food, a dog barking like crazy at a horse on the tv and a baby I'm trying to make sure stays asleep, I think keeping this thing up is crazy. But maybe if I see it as a source of rest, I'll get back to loving updating it. I know that this is the way some people keep up with us so I figured it is probably a good thing for me to keep it going. I apologize for being on a three month hiatus....I hope to be better.

So what has been going on with us? What hasn't maybe the question :) Not really, we've just been extremely busy. Matt has been traveling a good bit and I've been back in work mode. My partner retired from the company back in May, so it has been an adjustment. But, work has been going really well and I love it more and more each day. I have such flexibility which is great! I can play with Chase in the morning, take him to the nanny (who is amazing!) about 10 and work the rest of the day. Usually I pick Chase up about 4:30 or 5 and play with him until bedtime. When he goes to sleep, I go back to work...of course, my office is right under his bedroom, so that is great!

Matt is doing well with golf. We are gearing up for Q-School which starts October 26th. Please keep us in your prayers. Any wives of golfers (and golfers, of course) know what the Fall holds when it comes to professional golf! But, we know everything will be great!

And the little man of the house?! He's amazing! We have been truly blessed with the world's best child! I know everyone says that but I really do know it for Chase. We had a rough few weeks at the beginning with his milk protein allergy. But ever since we got that straightened out, he has been PERFECT! He is growing like a little weed...19 pounds, 7 ounces at his 6 month check up and I know he's gained weight since then. No one can say he goes without food! He's perfect in every way!

We finally found a Nanny for Chase. She is SUCH a blessing to us! We have thoroughly enjoyed her and look forward to the years to come. She keeps Chase and Ryan at her house every day and the kids love her! After 6 long months of searching, we finally found a perfect match!

We went to the beach a couple of weeks ago with my family. We had a great time and Chase did well! I was somewhat worried about him being outside his element, but he did great. Vacations with a child are far different than without a child, that's for sure! I now understand when people say they need a vacation from their vacation. We got back home on Monday and I took Tuesday as a "recoop" day.

Last Sunday we baptized Chase and what a wonderful day it was. We had friends and family come to the church service. Matt and I were so worried Chase would be the one who screams through the whole service, but lo and behold, he didn't! I was especially worried because, of course, we couldn't get him to nap before the service. We resorted to Matt driving him around

for 30 minutes, but even that didn't work. He got a 10 minute catnap which worked good enough. He was a champ throughout the whole ceremony.

Let's see...what else?! I guess nothing. In the next post I will update pictures. I don't have the patience to put them in order so they may be all out of chronological order. It's late (for me) and my patience wears thin after 8 :)..and now it especially is worn thin as I just heard a thud upstairs and Hogan has gone into Chase's room and taken everything off the bookshelf...darn dog!

If you're still reading at this point, you're a good person! :)

Much love,

Melanie, Matt and sweet baby Chase

Chase will be on television!

Got ya, didn't I? You thought our precious baby was going to be the star of a big time television commercial - perhaps like the baby on ETrade? Well, while we think he is absolutely cut out for the job, he isn't going to be on any commercials. But he still is going to be on tv...

When registering for Chase at Babies R'Us, I had a lot of help. Meg went with me to register and she told me pretty much everything I needed to know. I also checked with Stephanie to see if she would add anything. What I didn't do, was check my crystal ball and look into the future. What do you mean?, you may ask. Our sweet little 17 lb Chase is now in the business of moving - yep, rolling over. As I said in an earlier post, he rolls over all the time. Even in his crib!

At our 4 month check up, Dr. Dobson told us that since Chase has proven that he can sleep through the night, we now have to play the game of tough love. Mom tells me this isn't the first time this is going to happen. It ain't fun, she says, but it has to be done. So...tonight we start.

Actually, we started a couple of weeks ago. But the problem is, when he starts crying in the middle of the night, we don't know if he is just crying because he wants us or because he has rolled over and is stuck. Take right now for instance....I am listening to him scream from a nap....i guess you can call it a nap...it was 30 minutes - clearly not long enough. I know I should wait it out and see if he'll cry himself back to sleep but I ask myself, "Is he rolled over?"

Why am I telling all of you this? And why are you still reading, you wonder? Well, we've made the jump and bought a video monitor. The cheapest one on the market. I always thought they were silly until now. Hopefully this will make our nights a little less interesting :)

...I did go up and check on Chase (the monitor is not hooked up yet) and, of course, he is rolled over! The end of a short nap :(

If any of you have wise ideas of how to keep a baby on his back (and the sleep positioner isn't working), let me know!

Clarification

I got an email from a friend the other day asking if I was pregnant. Apparently my Father's Day blog post may have indicated that. Well....

We're not!! Soaking up every minute with Chase and not pregnant.

Thanks, Katie, for pointing it out! Didn't want rumors flying! :)

After our four month appointment (Chase weighed in at 16 lbs 5 oz and 26 inches long!), the doctor told us we could put Chase on rice cereal. We would ideally like him to sleep longer at night, so we thought this may be a solution. Dr. Dobson told us it doesn't work, but that everyone, including himself, tried it, so we took a stab at it. Needless to say, Chase is not the biggest fan of the stuff. I ate it and it doesn't taste bad, but I think the texture is what bothers him. The video is priceless :)

Father's Day

We were lucky to have Matt home for his first Father's Day!! Father's Day last year was very special to us. The Friday before, we found out we were pregnant! And now, we can celebrate with sweet Chase!

On Matt's one day in town, we slept in and went to brunch at Greenville Country Club. That place probably has the best brunch in town! Chase was good for the majority of the meal. :) After brunch we came home and we rested (or attempted to). After our brief glimpse of resting, Matt put together Chase's new exersaucer. Man, that is toy that has a million pieces! Why don't they put some of the pieces together for you?!

Another Long Overdue Post...

It seems like it has been months since I have posted any new pictures or videos of our sweet Chase. It's not that I don't want to! I am just pure lazy. When it gets to night, I'm worn out and still have the list of things that I need to do - wash bottles, wash clothes, clean the house...you name it. It's much easier when Matt is in town, that's for sure!

Hmm...the past month has been great! Chase is getting so incredibly big! It's amazing how much he changes from day to day! We have loved watching him grow and watching him learn so many new things. Here are some updates of what he can do...

- He can turn over from back to stomach. And boy, when he gets on a roll (ha!) we get worn out! You put him on his back and 5 seconds later he is over on his belly. He must do it 10 times in 3 minutes! He does know how to turn from stomach to back but is much happier letting us come to his rescue and flip him over.

- He likes to blow bubbles and make a "tooting" noise with his mouth. I was playing with him one day and doing it to him and he copied me. Needless to say, he does it all the time now :) He loves it!

- He is quite knowledgeable in the golf club department. He can analyze grips, shafts and blades. Got it from his mom :) No, really, PING sends a baby club out to the golfers who have babies. The color is blue and has his birth information on it. We love it! Thanks PING!

We never imagined having a baby would be this fun! He's a pure joy to our lives and we look forward to the many years to come! We love you Chase!

Enjoying the Aiken Standard

To Aiken we go...

Last weekend we went to Aiken to visit Gigi, Papa J and Uncle Justin. Matt and I had an engagement party to go to on Saturday night so we went down Friday to hang out. Chase travelled well. Hogan, well....he thinks it's his right to sit in Matt's lap to travel. I took Chase in my car and Matt took Hogan in his car because he had to go straight to another tournament on Monday morning. Next time I think I'll take Hogan and Matt can take Chase.

On Sunday we celebrated Justin's 25th birthday...quarter of a century old :) We just grilled out and played corn hole in the backyard. Happy Birthday Uncle Justin!

talking to Justin on his birthday morning

my new chair Gigi and Papa J got me!

Just reading the paper with dad on Saturday morning - I'm eyeing that pen!

Happy Birthday Uncle Justin!

I'm getting old enough for my Bumbo chair!

Nana is retiring!!!

Chase, Hogan and I loaded up the car last Friday to go to LaGrange to celebrate mom's retirement. She only has two more days of teaching! We are looking forward to having both Nana and Gigi retired!! We had a surprise (well, as much of a surprise as you can have..) Retirement Celebration for mom on Sunday night and Hollis Hand had something for her on Tuesday. Matthew, Leslie and Emma came in to town, too, so it was a houseful!

On Saturday, after my first trip to Zumba :), mom and I went to the 179th anniversary of Friendship Presbyterian Church in Concord, Georgia. The great, great, great, greats of my mom's family built this church and it has been a part of our family for 179 years! My grandmother and grandfather went there and are buried there, my brother was baptized there, and we spent many a Sunday there. It's very special to our family.

My grandparent's graves

Genevieve was my great grandfather's first wife. After having 5 children, she passed away and my great grandfather married Kate Wier who was my great grandmother. My grandmother Malone (mom's mom) and my mom are both named Genevieve after my great grandfather's first wife. I tend to think that was very nice of great grandma Kate to go for that... :)

Chase and Nana where Matthew was baptized

After grandma and grandpa Malone passed away, we had a stained glass window dedicated in memory to them.

Chase loves sitting with his Aunt Leslie! She has a good way of soothing him :)

Chase was fascinated with the stuffed dog in mom and dad's room...notice "Over the Hill"....is mom's young age of 30 considered over the hill? :)

Nana and Chase

Chase telling Papa all about his day

This Friday we are off to Aiken to spend time with Gigi, Papa J and Uncle Justin. We have a party for a friend getting married and Justin's BIRTHDAY! Yay!!