Well we still exist.

Well video killed the radio star and facebook killed the blogger. I just don't take the time to do it. I'm sure I could find time if I really tried to at least post once a week.
well obviously a lot has happened since my last post in November. We have been doing very well. We had a great holiday and Santa spoiled Chase. Chase turned 4 in January and had a party at build a bear with almost all his classmates from school. I am so lucky he loves school and never wants to stay home. Even when he is sick he wants to go. In February Chase had tubes put back in his ears because he was having some issues and had a bit of a hearing loss they believe will clear up with the tubes because he had "fountains" in his eye according to his doctor. March we headed back to Disney and Chase had a great time. When we were leaving the hotel to head back to the airport he was crying he wanted to stay at Disney. It appears I have met my match for loving the mouse. Almost everyday he asks to go back.
Easter was last weekend and I tried to stay away from a lot of candy so he got a bunch of movies. He surprises me with what he likes. He loves Ponyo and Princess and the Frog. I am holding off on giving him the Chipmunks Squeakeal, or however it is spelled. He loved looking for the eggs. He came down stairs in the morning and he saw one and then another and he just ran around the downstairs so excited. He found all but 5 easily we all had to look for 1.
He must be going through a growth spurt the past 4 days he has eaten like a pig. Well sort of. He is starving when I pick him up from school and dinner is hit or miss but come 730 he is starving again. He's been eating a lot from 730 until I can finally get him to sleep. The other day we stopped for dinner on the long ride home he ate a hot dog and a dilly bar. Then when he got home he ate his apples sauce then 3 pieces of cheese before he went to sleep. The past 2 days for breakfast he has eaten a slew of pancakes or waffles and then for lunch he has eaten 2 PB and J sandwiches. Some of his pants are now floods will go into the emergency change at school.
Between him being sick and travelling I have a new bedfellow. He has been hunkered up with me in my bed and contrary to my old view I do like it.

Starting school

Monday was Chase's first day or preschool. It was a rough start. He woke up screaming for me about 3 am so he came in to bed with me, nuzzled up and went back to sleep. I got up and got dressed and he stirred. He didn't want to get up. I told him we had to get going so we could get to school and he just lost it. He was crying and begging not to go to school and please don't leave me there. That continued all the way until we were about 10 minutes from home. Then he just sat there sullen in his car seat not saying a word. We stopped for munchkins for breakfast a little bit before school so he would have something to eat for breakfast. He complained his belly hurt. He started to cry as we pulled into the parking lot. It took him a bit to stop and we went in. I stayed for about 20 minutes and he was trying to climb all over me for me to hold him. Finally I gave him a hug and a kiss, promised him IHOP for dinner and that I will be back in a while to pick you up and the teacher started to distract him. I made it to the door and just before it closed I heard him say where's my Mommy going. But still he wasn't crying. Then when I picked him up he nearly knocked me over. that night brushing his teeth he wanted to know if he could go to school again. Tuesday I was off but I still took him to school so he would get into a pattern. Drop off was good again. Overall the whole week went much better than I thought it was. The only time I would lose it was when he was crying.
Friday I picked him to head to a H1N1 clinic. Let's just say it sucked. We waited nearly 2.5 hours in the cold wind to be turned away at 345. We got a VIP ticket for next Friday at 12.... 2 hours before the next scheduled clinic.... wow what a bargain. SO needless to say both Chase and I have horrible colds!

Stressful day

Today we said goodbye to our beloved babysitter of three years. Chase starts school monday. Jeanne has treated Chase like he was her own grandchild. Spoiling him so much. I could never thank her for all the love and care that she gave Chase. I left there in tears. We went to Chase's school for their Halloween party. Boy it's going to be rough Monday! he was like velcro with crazy glue attached! He wouldn't let go of me. For some of the group pictures I had to hold his hand out of the way. The only time he let go of me or wasn't climbing on me was when he did the trick or treat walk to get candy. Talk about a small world. I it turns out somebody we knew from the shore 4 years ago has a son in Chase's class and their is also someone who works in my building that has a son in his class too. Here is his first class picture

Ok, I lied

Well September flew by and I didn't keep my promise to post once a week. It was relly a short busy month with work and then leaving for our trip. We left the 28th and headed to Disney and then the Guatoberfest Cruise. We finally got home yesterday. It was a good trip but long... who knew it was a good 4 hours from Disney to Miami.... Mapquest said 3.5 so I figuired with me driving 3 hours no problem... no way.
We arrived in Disney late Tuesday afternoon went to eat at T-Rex Cafe and then headed to Hollywood Studios to see Fantasmic. We spent 45 minutes in line to see Buzz and Woody and then went to insure we had a seat for Fantasmic. Chase loved it. I thought it might scare him abit but he loved it and was sorry to see it end. He sat on Grammy's lap while I tried to video it unsuccessfully I might add.


We didn't arrive at the hotel until 930-945. A long day for us and it didn't help the GPS had us make a wrong turn so it took an extra 10 minutes. We stayed at Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom. It was very nice. A you really can see animals right outside the lobby.


Day 2 was animal kingdom and breakfast with Donald and that night headed to the Magic Kingdom to catch the night parade Spectromagic. The parade schedule was sporadic so I wanted to make sure we saw it because Chase loves it. Day 2 not too bad. He did throw a tantrum or too. Dragged him out of line after waiting to see Rafiki
Day 3 was the Magic Kingdom all day. Chase was a terror!!!! He wouldn't listen got dragged out of line a couple times and smacked his little tush a couple times too. He got a little better that night. He wanted to see Buzz so bad but not nearly as bad as he was. I started a reward system 10 stars and he could get a sword.
Well I guess I have to say he got a lot better because we had reservations to eat with Pooh and friends and they were an hour behind. He made it through dinner much better than he made it through the day.

Well Mommy just about had it at Hollywood Studios the next day so we were out of there before the parade at 3! wouldn't stay in line, hit, threw himslef down and yes tried to choke himself again. Here is his first attempt I was able to get in a picture. Needless to say he ended the day owing me stars.... still nowhere near a sword

Days 4 and 5 were at Magic Kingdom. He actually was very good saturday and he was given the benefit of the doubt with the stars and I bought him a cool "light saber" sword.



Well in 10 minutes it was dead so off to return it. I said it atleast has to be strong enough to get out of the park. We watched the night parade again and headed back to the hotel. We didn't set the alarm to get up and decided we would grab something to eat at the park after packing up the car. Chase continued to be pretty good. We stayed to watch the afternoon parade which Chase just loved. A number of the characters gave him 5. It was then off to the store for our last purchases and on to Miami.
We hit the car about 4pm got gas and was on the road at 430 with Chase asking are we there yet about 25 times while still on Disney property. He finally passed out about 15 minutes into the ride. Who knew that mapquest really meant Miami was 4 hours away? I sure didn't.
oh did I forget to mention that the Dolphins had a home game to so we landed in Mianmi about 45 minutes after game time and of course it was dark, I was tired, there was traffic and then there was Chase just being a 3 year old. My nerves were shot. We found the hotel with no problem but couldn't find where to park. So I found the gas station refilled the rental and called the hotel. we got the LAST parking space in the lot. the spaces were about 1 foot wider than the car a typical city parking lot. so we ended up settling into the room about 945. the next day it was off to return the rental car and off to Port Miami for our Guatoberfest Cruise!
Monday didn't start so well, I had a hard time backing out of the parking space, oh yea because there was a 7 inch piece of rebar sticking up that I drive onto the night before so I ripped part of the bumper.

A good swift kick or mallet would have fixed it but I had neither. So the rental return was in Miami Beach 7 miles away. So I follow the GPS and it directs you to a dead end with NO ALAMO in sight. I call and they say just park it anywhere I'm like where are you well I was there and didn't see anything... or yeah it's hidden by a liquor store. Well the good news was they were so busy I don't believe they saw the bumper! We waited about 35 minutes for the shuttle to the port and we were off.
Well, check in didn't go so well. They confiscated the sword Chase got for his 10 stars... the clerk said oh he'll forget about it she obviously doesn't know him. The first one broke in 10 minutes how could they ever think it was a weapon.

THe cruise was fun. The weather was hot and Chase was bearable. He wasn't the best in Key West after out $80 bike ride to the Buoy he refused to stand for a picture and of course after we left he wanted it. I was pissed 80 bucks an no picture at the southern most part of the US. Here I am trying to get him to stand up.

We did manage a picture at mile marker "0"

We didn't plan any excursions at Cozumel so we just got off the boat and walked around the pier shops.
here is a picture of my cool dude in Cozumel


And our whole reason for the trip was Guatoberfest. A trip for families that have adopted children. There were 24 families who had adopted children from Guatemala.
Here are some of the beautiful famlies.



It was a fun time but I would have like to have more group activities. My whole reasoning for going was to get to know other families and their children. I wanted Chase to interact with the other children. there weren't any group activities planned and it was hard to have anytype of conversation on deck because the music was too loud. 4 families did sit together at dinner so we did make 3 other families our friends. They were great. Chase tried camp Carnival. he lasted about 2.5 hours. he was all but crying when I dropped him off, it was mommy who shed the tears. Grammy and I got to eat dinner in piece until I realized that they were bringing the kids down to eat. So we hid and I saw Chase looking sad holding the counsellor's hand. Well about an hour or so later I got the call to pick him up he's crying asking for Mommy. They really didn't give it too long. I missed the first call 824 another at 826 and then i finally realized it wasn't the slot machines and answered the call at 829. he broke down sobbing and crying when he saw me. Then he made another one of the little Guat tots Dominic start crying. We tried again the next morning. They didn't even give him a half hour and they were calling for me to come get him! What about redirecting the children.... camp carnival not so good! One counsellor was willing to try again with him but it really wasn't worth it. Grammy watched him while I went to my meeting.
We did stop by one more time to get his picture taken with FUNSHIP FREDDIE.

This about sums up his behavior

A few things I'll say just once but they go for just about everyday of the trip. It was DAMN HOT!!!!! 90's everyday It appears the locals don't use their air conditioners, and just about everyone loved my little ham as bad as he was. He was the star of a show in Hollywood Studios. They just thought he was a doll. They gave him a good name.... not a Diva but a DIVO, yup that applies. He entertained so many people on board the ship including one of the boats officers. I remember him from the Lido deck. He was also the kissing police in the pool. He would go over and say hi and what are you doing????
Everywhere we went I heard how adorable and how cute he was... and I WOULDN'T ARGUE THAT FOR THE WORLD!!! He is he is just darn right bad but I love that little angel to death.
Yup I have become one of those parents I used to loathe......

screw the spelling spell check won't work; too bad

I just can't keep up...

so we have been back from the shore a week today and this is the first time I can remember to try and post. We had a great 2 weeks of weather and celebrated our 3rd Gotcha/Family Day the 15th. The year we came home we got off the plane drove home around midnight and the next afternoon by 2 he was at the Jersey Shore. Back to the weather, we had no real rain to speak of, one afternoon of rain which allowed for the little angel to take a nap in his room. Overall he was very good; he got away with more than I would have liked because I didn't want to ruin everyone's vacation or day on the beach. He loved the water sometimes and others didn't. The minute the sun came up for the most part he was up. I tried to stall him for a bit but I was up and out of the house for our walk by 730 almost every morning. We got into a routine at the beach, play for a bit, lunch nap and ice cream. That routine didn't take long. Every time he woke up the first 3 words were "mommy ice ceam!". the days were long and I was often beat but we had a great time. There were a few annoying days not minutes when he asked the same thing 3 million times over and over. Oh he needed and still does a SUGAR DETOX!
Here are a few pictures:
A whining moment

He collected crabs legs and anything else that was dead and smelled

It's all about me and that was his attitude


a sleeping angel
Chase's friend's came down for the day

Wow It's been a long time, and we are still here!!!

Well, it seems like I start ever post I make with these words. yes it has been a long time. We are very busy and I just can't seem to find the time to get the time on a decent computer to post. It seems so much easier to post on Facebook than to post on a blog, but I want to keep this blog alive for Chase. I want him to have something to look back on.
First I can't believe it is late July already. This year is flying by. Working 5 days a week still sucks. I see the house 3 days a week at most. Even a couple of those "scheduled" days home Chase says he wants to go to Mammie's house so I forego the hour ride home.

Well, June was a horrible month here in Jersey. It rained pretty much 23-24 days of the month. We were couped up and going stir crazy. A few of the days it didn't rain I ended up taking Chase to a playground in my boots and work pants just so he could get out and play a bit. We had another tragedy at work. A co worker committed suicide, it is just so said. Another young wife widowed and left alone to raise a son. No one really saw it coming and it hits home. The pain he must have been going through to do that and leave his son without a father, especially since he worshipped his son. That night I just wanted to give my little angel a never ending hug, and well I pretty much ended up doing so. Chase just darn right refuses to sleep in his bed all night. Some nights it's 2 some nights it's 5 and others it just 630 or 7 too darn early to get up if we don't have to go up to work. My little man crawls up into bed and then konks rights out. Some nights I get the "pregnancy" experience with the foot in the ribs or the kick in the back. Some nights he just has to holdie. He lays on his side and throws his hand over my head like a teddy bear.
We ended the month with a trip down the shore to met another family I got to know during Chase's adoption. I have met Christine, Andy, and Maria last year at the GAFI Bronx Zoo gathering but it really didn't allow us time to get to know each other. However, over 2 years of chatting on adoption boards you do get to be good friends and form a special bond. It was so great to spend the afternoon with Christine and the rest of the gang on the beach.

We started off July with a trip to Pop Pop's Lake house in North Carolina. Chase travelled pretty well. It was me that didn't I travel with too much Damn stuff, especially when i travel by myself. Rolling duffle, car seat, travel stroller and 2 napsacks.... was I nuts. then of course a 35 pound lump of potatoes who refused to walk when we got off the plane. We had a great time at the lake house. The only real problem was that he was up at the crack of dawn. I don't think he slept past 730 2 out of the 7 days and they were long days.

It was meet and greet week. I got to finally meet another one of my friends from the same Guatemalan board I am on. Katy and her 2 boys live about a half hour from the lake house so they were gracious enough to come over. It was great to met Katy, JD, and WIll. It's funny how you can be friends with someone for several years and never have personally met them. It's great to finally do that. The boys got along very well and it was great to actually talk to Katy. I hope we can do that whenever we go down to the lake house.
We spent the week playing in the pool and going on Pop Pop's boat. I tried to bribe him to go into the lake. He loved playing with a wheel pals airplane, I promised him 2 one for home and one for Grammy's if he went in the lake. Finally one hot afternoon and more coaxing and he went it and he loved it. He went in the next day too. We had a great time and Chase was quite entertaining and he learned a few new tricks.


Yes someone taught him to shoot a moon. He ran around the house and through the kitchen whipping out his tiny heiney! Whoever taught him that I don't know, it was kind of funny but dread the thought of getting a call from school in the fall because he keeps dropping his drawers. When we got home I think the babysitter's daughter's boyfriend is to blame. He wears his shorts hanging off his but with his undies showing..... I shouldn't have to deal with teen behavior yet. I should still be dealing with terrible toddler issues.

OK so it took me 3 weeks to come back and actually post this.

After the shore I promise I will try to post at least once a week!

One less doctor to see

We went to Chase's last ENT appointment today. Both tubes are officially out. He told us no need to come back unless he has more problems. We had a few discussions about going and what the doctor was going to do. He even said I no cry if Mommy hold me. On the way there he was getting a little antsy, He was adamant about not wanting to lay down. Come to think of it that is usually when he freaks out at all the doctors... When we got into the exam room he wondered around and went over to a poster on the wall and pointed and said tubes. He was pointing to the picture of what the tubes look like in the membrane. Then he climbed right up in the examine chair and waited for the doctor to come in. The end of the story was he sat on my lap and didn't move a muscle I really didn't even have to hold his head like I usually have too. Then when we got out he wanted to go to Dr. Max (his dentist). I personally thought one doctor was enough for the day.

Then as I walked out of the room after putting him to bed he yelled "ma meet deams!" I had forgotten to tell him sweet dreams. I had to go back in and give him a big kiss for him to wipe off and say sweet dreams to you too sweetie.