It's Official!

After 7 long years, my time here in Arizona is coming to an end. Tim accepted a position working as a firefighter at Prince George's County Fire Dept in Maryland and so we'll be packing up and heading east within the month! I am BEYOND ecstatic. We have been talking about moving since we have been married. I feel like we talked about it almost every day and now it's FINALLY here. I don't really know how to react. It's bittersweet. We have made some really great friends here, who I will cherish forever. Tim's family is here, but hopefully his mom and dad will be joining us on the east side soon after we get settled. I have a lot of fond memories here, but I'm ready for the new chapter in our lives to begin. I came to Arizona for a reason. Their names are Tim, Leah, and Chase. God knows what He's doing when He leads us to new places, and this is no exception. We're jumping in head first into this new adventure and we couldn't be more excited.. more terrified... more anxious.. and more thrilled about where this journey will take us. Stay tuned for more. Xoxo.


This picture portrays exactly how I feel. The sun is setting on our time here. We're looking out into the great unknown. Just the 4 of us. Holding on to one another and ready to watch the sun rise on a new adventure in our lives.

My Not-So-Little Monster

Chase's Milestones

Thought I would write them down while I still remember!

6 months: Sitting up, Bottom 2 teeth came in together
7 months: Army crawling
8 months: Crawling EVERYWHERE, pulling up on furniture, torturing sister, top 2 teeth came in together


Chase is 8 months now. He weight 29, yes 29, pounds. He's my monster. I certainly get my workout wrestling him every day. He is perpetual motion... NEVER sits still. He's in a big boy bath tub now. And he wants to pull up on EVERYTHING and try to walk. Diaper changes and getting him dressed are a feat. And he's so DARN cute!

Leah is not taking structured naps anymore... so she falls asleep randomly sometimes throughout the day. Chase takes full advantage:

"Jetta"

So last week I was running errands with Leah while Chase and Tim stayed home. I had to go to Target and the post office. I got to Target and got out of the car.. as I was unbuckling Leah from her car seat I kept hearing "meowing" coming from somewhere. Naturally, I assumed the car next to me had a cat inside waiting for it's owner to come out of the store. I didn't think much of it. We went to Target and came back and to the car and headed to the post office. When I got out at the post office, I heard the same thing. Oh boy, I thought to myself.. This cat is in MY car. I prayed that he was not mangled in the engine compartment somewhere and I VERY carefully drove home. Snowbirds were passing me, that's how slow I was driving. I got home and put Leah inside and gave Tim the "I need you to do something for me because I don't want to" look and told him I thought there was a kitty stuck in my engine and had him go look. I grimiced as he popped the hood, half expecting to see blood and guts. Much to our surprise, out pops this little black and white kitty and off she ran... I couldn't believe this kitty hung out in my car unharmed that whole time! I must have been gone two hours!
We went about our business for the rest of the day. It's winter here in Yuma, which means finally nice enough to leave the doors open. We have a gate in front to keep the dog in, so we leave our front door open most of the time when it's nice out. We were sitting there playing when all of the sudden the kitty just walks into our house like she owned the place! We quickly put the dog in our bedroom so she didn't have herself an afternoon snack. Leah was SO excited. "A KITTY MOMMY! LOOK! MY KITTY!" The cat was shy at first but after a few minutes was letting Leah pet her and carry her all over the place.
Somehow stray animals always seem to find me - like that time the cat had her kittens on the side of our house. Like we have a sign on the door saying "stop in here and we will feed you!" Because of course I will.. I'm just like my mother. I swear growing up we always had some sort of wounded bird or lonesome cat around.
ANYWAY so we gave the kitty, who we named "Jetta" (because that's what kind of car she hung out in all day...) a nice tuna fish meal and we set her up a little blanket in the garage and left the garage door open a crack for her to go in and out if she wanted.
Since then the kitty has become a frequent visitor at our house. She stops in once or twice a day to get her "lovies" from Leah and some cat food (because of course I went to the store and bought cat food!) and then off she goes. She's taken a liking to the roof of our garage and every time we go outside she's sitting on top of the roof meowing down at us.
If we weren't moving soon (post to follow) I would take the kitty in, but I don't want her getting too attached. For now, we're just letting her hang out. It surely did add some excitement to ours days though as we look forward to dinner with Jetta. It's certainly one of the highlights of Leah's day getting to play with "JEDAH!"

The Sleep Terrorists...

It's no secret that my kids don't sleep well. If you're my friend on facebook, you probably see my posts at 4am yelling at my son (like he has facebook in his crib...) to stop screaming and go to sleep. The Sleep Nazis, Sleep Bandits, Sleep Terrorists... that's what we lovingly refer to our children as after 8pm. Now we've always kept really good schedules with the kids... flexible schedules, but schedules nonetheless. They have always had a strict bedtime routine since birth.. bath, lotion, story/song, (Chase gets bottle), bed. Both have always fallen asleep easily. Going to bed and/or bedtime routine has never really been a struggle. It's from about 8:30pm-10:30 and sometimes midnight with Chase, and Leah wakes up usually around 3am and is in and out of my room and or in her room crying until about 6am. Sounds exhausting, right? Right. Especially with a husband who works 24 hour shifts. It's just me here by myself every other night getting tag-teamed by my kids. We just can't figure it out. Chase does fine after he FINALLY stops fighting it (the kid will literally scream for 3 hours straight... when you open the door he gives you this HUGE smile. it's ridiculous. he's beyond smart, this kid. the second you even think about closing the door he's screaming again.
And Leah wakes up to pee and then she can't fall back asleep because the SLIGHTEST noise she is flipping out and screaming for me "TRUCK mommy! MOTORCYCLE!" Her bedroom is in the front of the house and the street is right there... For Pete's sake I'm seriously considering switching their rooms! As a punishment for her, after about the 10th night in a row of her getting out of bed a billion times, I took binkies away for good. We took them away during the day when she turned 2, but has been allowed to have them at night because I thought it helped her sleep better. But since it didn't, she had to give them up. And truthfully she hasn't really whined about it as much as I thought she would. She asked for it like twice and now she has conversations with people (Daddy, Grandpat, Uncle Derek) on her pretend phone about how she's SUCH a big giwl (girl) and doesn't need a binky anymore. And then to put a positive swing on it, we made a sticker chart (at 4 in the morning because this just HAD to end) and she gets a sticker in the morning for every night she stays in her bed (with the exception to potty). She has been asking for a new bike so if she fills up her chart (I think it's 25 squares...might be a little much so I might give her a little prize after the first 5 so she doesn't lose sight of the goal) then she gets to go pick out her new bike. I did this 2 nights ago and she has 2 stickers! HOORAY! Now if only a sticker chart would work for Chase.... Chase if you fill up your chart you get STEAK AND POTATOES! lol!
I just keep telling myself that pretty soon these will be distant memories.. my kids won't need me in the middle of the night again... and I will miss it. RIGHT?



Leah's Lingo



Tucking Leah into bed last night, she was afraid because a truck went by, so I told her "it's okay, baby, you don't need to be afraid because God will protect you."
Leah: No, mommy.. DADDY protect me.
Me: Okay, God helps daddy protect you.

On our walk the other night, "MOMMY! LOOK! The moon! It's so pretty! (reaching her arm way up high and grunting) I can't reach it!"
Me: reaching my arm way up high too "I can't reach it either!"
Leah: "Daddy will get it for me..."


Are you noticing a theme yet??

I came home from the store today and I walked in and Leah says, "MOM! Daddy's Superman!"!

Busy Bee and Leah's Lingo

I have been off the map lately, I know. Don't have time to blog... too busy stamping! But here's some Leah's Lingo to tide you over...


Ok, I love that my kid knows her colors.. but I don't really want to hear "MOM! That's brown!" every time she poops...


Today we went to the post office, she wanted to take her baby doll with her. She carefully carried her around because she was "sleeping" and then in the post office kept adjusting (and grunting) the baby on her hip like I do with Chase.. It was hilarious. Then we got home she wanted to put her baby in Chase's crib because it was her nap time. She went right from the car to his room and put the baby in the crib and even asked me to close the curtains. She tiptoed out and quietly closed the door behind her. Then I was vacuuming the floor a few minutes later and Leah runs out in the hallway and holds her hand out to me "MOM stop! Shhhhh! Baby's sleeping!"
Then when it was time for Chase to go in and take his nap she was NOT happy that I had to move baby...


Leah and Chase were playing on the floor in the living room and all the sudden she runs in the kitchen.. "MOM! Chase poopy! He needs a diaper!"
Me: "Okay I'll get him, thanks baby!" And I take him to his changing table...
I took his diaper off and Leah looks at me all sassy and says, "SEE! I TOLD you he had a big poopy!"


For some reason, Leah's always been scared of really loud noises. It's not something we've encourage and she's certainly not been sheltered from loud noises at all. But whenever the trash man drives by or the lawn guys on their lawnmowers or a big truck.. she FLIPS out. If we are outside when something like that goes by she will literally RUN to the front door and cry "INSIDE! INSIDE!"
Anyway.. I was gone this past weekend visiting a friend in Scottsdale and so Tim was here with the kids. Apparently in order to make Leah not scared of the loud noises, he told her lovingly that "daddy would smash their face!" ....Yea. Something every mother wants to hear when they get home is their sweet 2 year old saying "It's okay, mommy! (and making a smashing motion with her hand) Daddy will smash his face!"
REAL NICE BABE!

Leah's Lingo

In the bath tub the other night, Leah noticed the bar of soap that Grandpat left...
"MOM!" (Looks at me with big, concerned eyes...points to soap...) "Grandpat forgot her candle!"


After her bath, I was putting her jammies on and she points to her toes, which my mom painted while she was here. "Look at my toesies, momma."
Me: "Ooh, they're so pretty! Did Grandpat paint them for you?"
Leah: "Yea... (pause)... she had to get her fasses (glasses) so she could see."


The other night before bedtime, I had taken Chase's diaper off and letting him "air it out" on the blanket for a bit. Leah patted on his butt as if she was drumming.. "MOM! (excitedly) I play drums!"
Oh dear...

2010 In A Nutshell...

"Help! I'm in a nutshell!" Ok...now that I got that out of my system... HAPPY NEW YEAR! I can't hardly believe that 2010 is over! When I was in high school, thinking about 2011 was like light years away. I pictured flying cars and a robot that would do my laundry... What a bummer!
Anyways, 2010 was another great year for us, and some potentially life-changing events happened. Let's take a glimpse back at 2010 in a nutshell!

This year, we watched our sweet baby, Leah, turn into a little lady right before our eyes. She went from a crib to her big girl bed, to her new room, and went from signing words to carrying on complete conversations with you. She turned 2 in April. She is the sweetest little girl around and we absolutely adore her.
Leah in January of 2010:
And Leah in December 2010:


In the beginning of 2010, as the weather grew nicer and my belly grew bigger, we anxiously awaited the arrival of our baby boy.


And in May, we welcomed Chase Timothy Vanderhoff into our world. We had a rocky start with a bout of colick and reflux, but little did we know he would become one of the greatest joys of our life.

Chase at 7 months, Dec 2010:


With a new baby and heat temperatures on the rise, we spent most of the summer cooped up at home trying to come up with creative ways to keep occupied.

In August, Tim and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. Against all odds, I can say we are still as crazy about each other as we were those first 12 days. Two babies later and a lifetime to look forward to together.
In September, we started something that could potentially change our lives and our location, which is still in the works.
In October, I started my own business. With a hammer and some sterling silver, I started my jewelry collection with 10 pieces. It has since expanded to over 50 pieces in my collection, and over 250 sales in just 3 months.

And through my business, I have met some people who have greatly impacted my life and given it new purpose.





We had our first family photos taken.


My mom came and spent Christmas with us.

Had a great time catching up with my mom. Leah LOVED spending time with her Grandpat.



I'd say that pretty much sums up 2010. We look forward to 2011 and everything it holds for us!