Celebrating

Today we spent the day with Grandad and PawPaw to celebrate Father's Day.

We started the morning with Chases first trip to Nanny and Grandads house.

( I promise Colton was not hurting Chase in this picture He was trying to get Chase to calm down. This is the best we could do.)

Nanny and Grandad had a special prize set up in the backyard for Colton. He was so excited to play on his new swing set.

Mimi was in town and came by to visit and have lunch with us.

Landry, Logan, and Barrett came too.

After a few hours of hard playing both boys were wiped out. Colton was asleep before we got out of Nanny and Grandads neighborhood.

This melted my heart. Before he fell asleep he grabbed Chases hand and held it all the way home.

After a quick nap we headed to Gaga and PawPaws.

Then we were off to Colton's favorite place. The "Boat Show", as he calls it, with Gaga, PawPaw and Uncle Matt.

Colton couldn't have been happier running around from boat to boat to 4 wheeler. Chase was awake the first half of the time taking it all in and slept the second half of the trip.

Before we know it Chase will be up there running around with his big brother.

Happy Happy Happy Father's Day to Grandad and PawPaw.

You both are role models in our lives. We appreciate everything you have done for us and how much you love us and our family. We are blessed to have you in our lives and we feel so lucky to be able to spend so much time with you.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

All our love, Zak, Catherine, Colton and Chase

We Got Out

Tonight we finally got out of the house as a family of four. I've never been one to sit around at home. I don't sit well. I like to have plans and stay busy but since Chase has been home I've been quite content hanging out at home with a couple trips here and there to grab a few things. This week I've started to feel ready to venture out so tonight was the night and it was a complete success. We met Nanny and Grandad at Cheddars for Friday Night Dinner.

(So sad Baa was still at work and couldn't make it. We missed you Baa.)
Chase did awesome and slept through the entire meal.
(Waking up as we pulled into the driveway.)
And, Colton did great too. He's been stuck in the house with Chase and me the last three weeks and he was just as excited to go to dinner as I was. He spent about 15 minutes picking out and packing up the perfect cars to entertain himself during our wait at the restaurant. Then, at dinner we had a big success with Colton. He used his first public potty!!! (Ha, such a mommy thing to be proud of. And, NO, I didn't take a picture of that. He'd have every right to kill me for that.)



It was so great to get out.

Grandparents

We are so blessed to have our parents so close by.

We love having them around and so do the boys...

Gaga and Colt PawPaw and Chase
Grandad and Colt

Nanny and Chase

We sure do love you guys. Thanks for loving us and our boys.

This is the life

Here are a few random pictures from the last week and a few of my faves that haven't made it into a previous blog.

We're hoping Chase loves his swing as much as Colton.
Colton's been such an awesome big brother and has been playing so well on his own when mommy needs him to. One of my favorite onsies...My little STUDMUFFIN!

My Boys!

Chase loves to be swaddled!

L.O.V.E. this picture.

He was talking to his Grandad and he was very deep into conversation!

June 3rd

On June 3rd, Chases actual due date when he was only 11 days old, Kellie took pictures of Chase. She did an amazing job. Before she came over she told me she was mine for the day and I thought "Hum, weird. It's not gonna take that long. All he does is sleep. He'll sleep through the shoot and we will be done in no time." WRONG! It was a stressful shoot. Chase was not happy. He didn't like being undressed and moved around. He finally settled at the end of the shoot, a couple hours in after a few feeds and a diaper change, when I swaddled him in the blanket my mom knitted for him.

I know my blogs have been quite wordy lately. I want to remember every minute of every day. Since this is my scrap book and journal, something I intend on having to look back on for years and years to come, I've been trying to write down every detail.

So, I'll give you a break. This blog is about the pictures. My baby boy will never be this little again.

Thank you Kellie for capturing every cry, smirk, stretch, wrinkle and kiss. Thank you also for including and loving on Big Brother too!

Blogger was not cooperating so I picked my very favorite pics. You can check out a few more on Kellies blog.

L.O.V.E.

2 weeks

Chase was 2 weeks old yesterday. I can't believe we've had him in our arms for TWO WEEKS. Time has gone so fast and it's been such a dream, honestly. When I got pregnant everyone in my family said this time I'd have a "real" baby. Colton was an excellent baby, aside from us having no clue what we were doing and having trouble nursing. He slept well and wasn't overly fussy and in the past 3 years we know hes been a great easy baby/toddler. We've been very lucky. He made everyone jealous.

Now, Chase is here and we never expected things to go this smoothly. It's been two weeks and almost every minute of it has been a dream. Colton is still doing amazingly well. He is not showing any signs of jealousy and absolutely loves his baby brother to death. He insists on holding him and checking on him all day long. He's never been one to play alone but since Chase has been here he's been trying to be a little more independent. It's tough when we have lot of visitors because he tends to show off/act up a little bit. If daddy's home he plays us off each other and acts up on occasion but when its just me, him and Chase he's amazing. He helps out, watches Chase, and entertains himself when he needs to. He's such an amazing kid and we are so incredibly proud of him!

Chase has been doing awesome. He's a great baby. He eats really well. He usually eats every hour and a half to three hours. Most of the time he nurses from about 10-30 minutes. He is still choking on occasion when he feeds. Its still very scary but he seems to know what to do to catch his breath quicker than a week ago. I also know what to listen for so if it sounds like he's drinking too fast I pull him off and sit him up. We're still praying that this stops very soon. Its scary.

At night, he usually gets up two times after going to bed around 11. On Sunday night, and then again last night, he went to bed about 11:45 and only got up once around 3:30, for 30 to 45 minutes, waking up about 7 am. Not too bad! I'm hoping this means we have another good sleeper on our hands. I know things could change quickly so Im just taking it one day/night at a time. We did have one night where he got up three times and the next day was tough. Some days Chase will sleep in, if he has a late feed, but Colton's always up around 7 am.

Over the past couple days I can tell he's putting on weight and growing. There are even a few newborn onsies that he doesn't fit in anymore. He's starting to stay awake a little more between feeds. For a few days, around a week and a half, he thought if he was awake he had to be eating. I was feeding him quite often then. Now, I think he knows he doesn't always need to be eating. He lays in my arms or the pack and play and looks around, just taking everything in. During the day I put him in the pack and play while he sleeps. It's amazing what he sleeps through. Colton can get very loud and he doesn't even stir.

In the last week, Chase lost his umbilical cord and he also has his second Photo Shoot (I've tried to post the pics but blogger isn't letting me. I'm still working on it.)

The past two weeks have really been great. Thanks to amazing friends and family I still haven't cooked a meal. Tonight though, I think I'll have to whip up something fast. We have yet to leave the house as a family, aside from a quick trip to Target where I was the only one who got out of the car. I've been able to find time to catch up on a couple TV shows (I know crazy, usually while nursing). The boys have napped at the same time (I thought this would never happen). I've got a few random things done around the house (Just a few). And, obviously, Ive blogged and also put together Chases baby book and the maternity photo album I was keeping (I've got to keep up with these for my memories)! I never imagined these would be things that I'd be getting done these first weeks.

Last night, Chase got to meet his girlfriend, Peyton. Peyton is the daughter of our next door neighbors, David and Mandi. For those of you who don't know, David and Zak were college roommates and have been extremely close friends for 10 plus years. When Colton was 1 the house next door went up for sale. David and Mandi were moving to Houston from Austin and decided to look at the house. A few months later, they moved in and we absolutely love having some of our closest friends live right next door. David and Mandi (Uncle Crockett and Aunt Me as Colton calls them) have been so wonderful to Colton and now they have their own precious little girl whose just 12 days younger than Chase. We feel so blessed to be going through this journey of parenthood with them. Our three kids are going to have great memories together!!!!

Handsome Little Man

On May 25th, the afternoon after Chase was born, we had his pictures taken in the hospital. They turned out great. We are so in love with this handsome little man.

A little Update.

Today is daddy's second day back at work. Things are going surprisingly well. My mom came over for most of the day yesterday and it was so so so nice to have her company but things went so smooth all day I know we could have done it on our own. I did get a chance, during Colton's nap while nanny cuddled Chase, to run to Walmart and Target to get a few baby items but I was only gone about 30-40 minutes. Today we have been on our own all day. This morning started out a little tough. I was very tired after getting about 5 hours of broken sleep. Chase slept in til about 8:30 when big brother woke him up but Colton was up at about 7 am. (I had just got back to sleep after a 5:30 feed when Colton got up.) After daddy left for the day and I had a cup of coffee I was ready to tackle the day. Even though it was tough to get up when Colton got up it was so nice to have a little time with just him. Chase is doing so well. He is so laid back. The past day or two he seems to want to eat a little more frequently (every 2 hours or so). He is also awake more often and wants to be held a little more. Not a problem for me. I love holding him and loving on him. We spent a lot of time playing in Colton's room this morning and hanging out with big brother. I even did some dishes and a load of laundry. Colton and I havent gotten out of our Pjs much since daddy went back to work but thats okay, Chase goes through enough outfits in a day for both of us! This after noon all three of us ate lunch together and now both boys are down for a nap (something I thought may never happen). We're waiting on Gaga, PawPaw and Nana to stop by this afternoon and then it'll be time to have daddy home. We sure do miss him during the day but things are going so much smoother than I ever imagined. I was an absolute mess with Colton and he was a very laid back baby as well. I guess that just comes with the confidence of number 2.

I love being a mommy more than ever and I honestly feel so complete. I love having "the boys" with me. Once we decide to venture out of the house I know we have lots of adventures ahead of us.

*Special THANK YOU

to everyone who has come to vist, brought us a meal, and sent thoughful presents. We love you guys and appreciate it all more than you'll ever know!