Needing a Chase Fix!

Poor Grandma Thuerbach had shoulder surgery on January 7th and she has not been able to hold Chase since then. We did go to visit her and Grandpa the weekend after the surgery but those darn pain pills made that time a little fuzzy for Grandma! So it has seemed like forever since she had seen him (especially since she used to babysit 2 days a week) So Grandma and Grandpa came over for a few hours today to get a much needed Chase Fix! He is growing so quick that he always seems like a new little Grandson everytime they see him:)

Chase definitely misses seeing them too and misses getting to play with Grandma every week. I know it kills Grandma not to be able to hold her little boy right now but it will be worth it down the road when she is doing better and living without constant shoulder pain like she has been doing for over a year!

Here are a couple cute pics I got today of Chase playing with Grandma and Grandpa!

Grandpa on the floor with Chase during tummy time...aka rolling over because he hates him tummy!



Chase checking out Grandma's sling.."What is this thing?"

"How long do you have to wear this Grandma?"

Well...in that case I'm gonna at least eat it if it's gonna be here for awhile!

8 Months Old!

Chase turned 8 months old today! We can't believe he is 3/4's of a year old already! Every day just keeps getting more fun with our little monkey because he is such a sweet baby. Here are some highlights of Chase at 8 months:

* Loves to laugh and give big smiles
* Plays with water bottles
* Has his 2 bottom middle teeth coming in
* Chews on EVERYTHING
* Is a speed demon zipping around in his walker
* Plays with baseball bats (Daddy is sooo happy!)
* Plays tug-a-war (he thinks it is hilarious)
* Trying to start to crawl - he is doing better on his tummy and can start to move in circles
* Only wakes up once at night - usually about midnight to eat
* Loves his new baby-sitter Amanda and her son Aiden!
* Giving us a bit of trouble eating solids but he did eat a bunch of Gerber Puffs and drank a little water out of his own sippie cup today!!
* Loves when you put a blanket over his head and pull it off and say "Where's Chase?" - gets us lots of laughs
* Loves bathtime

Here is Chase in front of his big teddy bear that Grandpa T gave him in the hospital...

Serious Look

Chase is now big enough to hold the bear:)

Flashback to 2 Weeks Old!

Chase discovering his buddy

We love you more and more everyday Monkey - you continue to amaze us and make us smile!

Weekend Visitors!

We had a great treat this past weekend and got a visit from Lisa and Katie! I did a terrible job taking pictures this weekend but I did get a few. Lisa came in from Florida Friday morning so Chase & I spent the day with her. That night Katie flew in and we all had fun at dinner and having drinks together. Lisa took off Sat morning to go visit some more friends so we spent the rest of the weekend catching up and hanging out with Katie! We enjoyed the 80 degree weather the whole weekend - Katie especially enjoyed it after flying in from the CO snow:) We spent the weekend visiting Hermosa beach, went to 3rd Street in Santa Monica Sat night and witnessed the crazy street performers and grabbed dinner, hiked up to the Hollywood sign, watched football playoffs, checked out Venice beach, drank way too much wine and just enjoyed hanging out again! We loved having you both out here - thanks for making the trip! Chase loved spending time with his girlfriends:) Here are some of the few pics I did get...

Lisa getting a chance to feed Chase while we were out to dinner

Chase posing with the weird sheep that were in the lobby of Katie's super-modern hotel

The view we had as we were hiking to the Hollywood sign

Hollywood Family

Making our way back down

Katie, Chase & I

Chase loved his new brunette girlfriend:)

Katie showing off her guns at Muscle Beach in Venice

Scene from the TV show NUMB3RS being shot in Venice


Thanks for coming out to visit - can't wait to see you both again soon!

Food Fight...

So we have been having a little battle with Chase in the solid food department. He was doing so good eating and then he got a stomach virus at Christmas and after that he wanted nothing to do with any food besides his milk. We have tried soo many different times and many different veggies/rice/oatmeal/etc. but he just holds the food in his mouth and then spits it out. (I'm sure teething at the same time is not helping things either) We are being patient because everything we read says not to force babies to eat and we also know that obviously he will eventually grow out of it. Until then here are a few pictures of our efforts...
Chase trying out a teething biscuit to help relieve his poor gums This is what happens when you let your baby have control of his own spoon in an effort to get him to eat some carrots! Needless to say our next item on the agenda was a bath :)
Good times:)

We Have A Tooth!

I am posting this a little late but Chase got his first tooth last Tuesday!!!! I had a feeling we were real close because Monday night he had a pool of drool around him in his crib:) When I went to pick Chase up from his babysitter Tuesday after work she said "His little tooth is so sharp!" My mouth dropped open and I was a little sad and said, "What tooth?" I was excited yet wishing I had been the one to discover it at the same time - but welcome to the world of a working Mom - guess I won't be there to see everything first. It must have cut through Monday night and poked out Tuesday. It is coming through even more now but Chase has been a little trooper. It hasn't seemed to affect him all that much.. he hasn't been fussy, had a fever or sleeping bad because of it (thank goodness!) We have some herbal little drops that I think are helping soothe the pain and he is constantly chewing on his finger and anything else he can find in sight to ease his poor little gums... 1 down..how many to go? Ha Ha

I would post a picture but Chase has barely let us see it let alone let me take a picture of it:) We better enjoy his gummy smile while we can - it will be full of teeth before we know it!

Making the Blog Private!

Hi all!

Well I am taking some advice from my sister and parents (and after reading Amanda's blog)and decided that there is too much info about our family life on here to have the whole wide world of the web have access to the Hoelting's.. (you've seen the news - too many crazies...) It is sad to say that but unfortunately we don't live in Mayberry circa 1950 so better safe than sorry:)

Hopefully there are many of you who enjoy reading our blog and watching Chase grow up:) If so please post your name and email address in the comment section below or email me at lorit5@yahoo.com and I will add you to the list of invited readers. I will wait a couple weeks to do this to give everyone some time to let me know!

Take care and be safe in 2009!

Love,
Lori, Craig & Chase

Best Sound In The World!!

Nothing gets better than this...

Splish Splash I Was Taking A Bath.....

Chase outgrew his old bathtub so he now has his new duck to take a bath in! From day 1 Chase has always loved his little rubber ducky during bathtime (he chews on it) so now he has a big duck to bathe in:)

Chase love loves loves baths and we have fun singing 2 songs in particular every time..... 1) "Rubber Ducky you're the one... You make bathtime so much fun..." (I think I learned that one from Sesame Street back in the day) and 2) "Splish splash I was taking a bath..."

Fun at the Aquarium!

Saturday we headed down to Long Beach to go to the Aquarium of the Pacific! We had been meaning to go for awhile because it is somewhere we can walk around a lot to keep Chase entertained and something fun to look at while we are at it:) The aquarium was really neat and had little sea creatures from all over the world. There were TONS of kids running around there - the aquarium is really interactive and you can touch rays, starfish, etc so the kids were loving it. Chase needs a few more years and then he will really love it!

Daddy & Chase in front of one of the many tanks

Chase trying to touch the fish!

Chase meeting a life size stingray:) (It was a cute picture but then that lady walked right in front...oh well)

This sea lion was totally playing with this little kid - it was hilarious!

Chase wanted to play with him too

Chase & Momma in front of the sharks

Cute close-up:)

Chase loves riding around on Daddy's shoulders


After the aquarium we met up with Mom & Dad at the Yardhouse because Uncle Larry was in town visiting! This was the first time he got to meet Chase!

HAPPY 2009!

We wanted to take a moment to tell anyone who follows our family blog that we wish you an AMAZING 2009! I think if 2008 taught us anything it is to just treasure the people you have around you and hold on tightly to good friends and family - in the end that is more important than anything else. We have been blessed with 2 wonderful families in both the Hoelting's and the Thuerbach's and we have many dear friends who we love with all our hearts. Thank you to everyone for making our lives better by being in it.

2008 brought Craig and I the best gift we have ever received - Mr. Chase Nicholas (aka Monkey!) If you can't tell by our pictures and blog we are just obsessed and, of course, think he is the cutest kid ever born:) We look forward to a great 2009 of watching Chase hit many milestones...walking, talking, and just discovering simple new things everyday! We also can't wait for Baby Frisbee to make his appearance this year and bring more smiles and joy to our lives!

HAVE A GREAT 2009 EVERYONE!!!!

Here are a few pics of our New Year's celebration at Mom & Dad's with the Tucson Thuerbach's (Aunt Kathy, Uncle Jon, Jonathan, Brad and Lindsay) visiting!! Lindsay performed at the half-time show for the Holiday Bowl in San Diego so they were in town for a few days!