Say What?!

I was at one the hotel properties today for my normal visit and while feasting on a fantastic lunch brought in by the employees, a phrase was brought up -- "Wet behind the ears". As the conversation was continuing, I'm sure I had the oddest look on my face. I stopped them mid-way and said, "I just have to ask, what does 'wet behind the ears' mean?!" They laughed as they couldn't believe I had never heard that saying before! I have now learned that it means that someone is still young and inexperienced.

After this conversation, it got me thinking about some of the odd sayings that are out there and how silly they sound!

"I'm so mad, I could spit"
"He is still wet behind the ears"
"I'll keep my eyes peeled"
"It's not over till the fat lady sings"
"She's got a chip on her shoulder"
"Mum's the word"

WHAT?!

Makes you start to wonder what little kids think when they hear us say these terms! What funny sayings have you heard?!

Catching Up

It is so hard to believe that Thanksgiving is THIS week! This month has flown by, but we have been nice and busy here in the Wonderlin house! Chase is all over the place even more, so he has earned a "gated community" in the living room. For those of you that are wondering what I am talking about, you will probably start to notice it in the background of some of these new pictures. We have "gated" off part of the living room so Chase can have his toys out and he isn't tempted with the TV and DVD player and other items around the house that aren't for babies :-) He has his own space!

I even caught him standing ON HIS OWN!Chase loves when Daddy plays with him on his bike

We have a little dare devil on our hands---always stands on the bike!

On Friday night, we headed to the Festival of Trees at Lincoln Land Community College. The trees were beautiful and it was fun to see Chase's face when he saw all of the lights on the trees.


The BEST part of the evening was seeing Santa for the FIRST time. Now, with little kids, we all know that this can be a great experience or a frightening one. For Chase, it was a little in-between. He didn't cry, but gave the famous Chase "pout face".... We felt bad, but it really did make for some fun pictures....

How cute is that?! Maybe next year will be better! :-)

4 Wonderful Years

From the moment you asked me to marry you
I couldn't wait to start our journey as a married couple

Soul mates from the start

Unforgettable Wedding Day
Through The Years
As our lives change
One thing remains true....
I love you more than ever!
Happy 4 Year Anniversary Mark!

At this time four years ago, Mark and I were still partying at our awesome wedding reception and ready to celebrate our lives together as a married couple. This year, our beautiful baby boy sleeps away in his crib as I work on the blog and some work projects. Another year has gone by and what a memorable year it has been!

As our gift to each other, we had our family photos done by Dustin Becker Photography! Click here to check them out! The password needed is 10/25/09. Be sure to come back here and let me know which ones are you favorites!

GO ILLINI!

Lately, not many people have been so eager to say they are Illini fans, but this weekend, we broke out the newest Illini fan to the stands....

We were a little chilly, but that's what brings on good snuggling...And hot chocolate ;-)

Chase had yet another weekend of "firsts"....

First ride in Mimi and Papa's motor home ;-) And with that comes spending the night in the Sam's parking lot. Too bad it had rained so much during the week, we could have added first tailgating experience too. (This is right before we left, so all of slide-outs had been put away)

He had a great time playing in the RV before we left for the game

Even the dogs relaxed...Addie chose pillows and Milan took over Chase's seat...


We also couldn't pass up another opportunity to dress up this little cutie! For Easter, Chase was a bunny and for fall, he was a giraffe!
With us being gone for the game, we missed the opportunity for him to come and visit friends and family, but hopefully next year! We are going to bring the costume out for many of you to see...we just can't help it...we love our new giraffe!

Thank you to Mimi and Papa for a great weekend!!! We had a blast and are looking forward to more Illini games in Chase's future. Let's keep up the winning each time too ;-)

Your Lily Pad or Mine?

Little Miss Sydney (click here for her blog) and her mom, Sarah, came over to play tonight! From our past "play dates" we noticed that Chase and Sydney both had the same "Ribbett" toy and also frog pj's! We couldn't help but have a themed play date night! Here are some of the cute photos from our evening!

Hey...I thought "I" was wearing the frog pj's tonight...why are "YOU" in them too?!

MMMMM..... Binkies......

Love us some froggies and binkies...

Saying "cheese!!" for the mommas!

Sarah and I had fun playing with the kids and learning all sorts of new things... Sydney starts to cry when Chase really gets laughing.. We just need to teach her how to do it and soon she can join in. I think she feels left out ;-) Also, Chase loves to have me put his binkie in my mouth backwards and he grabs it with his mouth, takes it out and hands it to me to do again. We just rolled with that one!

Thanks for coming over Sydney!!

Go EIU!!

What a fun weekend!! Mark, Chase, and I headed to Charleston on Friday night to visit Eastern Illinois University for their Homecoming weekend. Mark and I hadn't been back in quite a while and of course this would be Chase's first time! We went to the parade (Chase's first!) on Saturday morning and enjoyed a more "family friendly" way of viewing the parade compared to years past. Boy...memories of college came flooding back the entire time we were there. Yes Mom - you are right - memories of me sitting for hours in the library studying. *wink, wink*



After the parade we headed to see the new Dounda Fine Arts Building - WOW - I'm not sure I have enough room to describe everything this building is. Magnificent, breath-taking, unique, contemporary, etc...... We should have taken more pictures, but here are a couple!

Even the bathrooms were awesome!

Tony Romo was at the game as he received a key to the city and had his jersey number retired as well! When we were at President Perry's tent visiting with my parents, Tony came up and visited with our friends Mitch and Jennifer!


We stopped in to surprise my old boss, Mark Stremming, at Hibbett Sports in Mattoon. I worked with him in Charleston and couldn't wait to see the new store they built in Mattoon. As always, it was great to visit and catch up with old friends. Glad we now have Facebook to keep us updated though!

Back at home after a busy weekend, Chase decided it was time for an iced teether.... As you can see, I think his tongue was getting more of the "ice" than his bottom teeth were. Oh well...


Also, a BIG THANK YOU goes out to Pedipeds!! I am a "Fan" of the company on Facebook and they randomly selected a "fan" to win a $200 gift bag! I was SOOO excited to get that email telling me they sent me a message! (You will have to click on this picture in order to make it easier to read!) Chase was in need of a new pair (or two!) of Pedipeds, so this was quite the blessing!!

If You Need A Laugh...

If you are in need of a laugh or just a great smile for your day...I'm sure you will get one after watching Chase. When Mark was playing with the dogs and squeaking one of their toys, Chase just found it hilarious. As always...we can't get enough of this boy :-) Happy Laughing!!

Fall has begun

This weekend was full of fun things that you can only do in the fall! On Friday night, we headed to the LHS football game. Mark and I hadn't been in a couple years for some odd reason and we thought it would be fun to take Chase before the cold weather really set in. Beforehand we went out to dinner with Mary and Kyle - always a good time. We are so blessed with such great friends! Chase was such a good sport (no pun intended) at the game! He sat on our laps and just kept watching the field...I think sports is in his blood. Always a good thing - makes the family proud. Here is a quick picture of him from the game.... (Thank you to Grandma Linda and Papa Paul for this adorable hat and coat!)Saturday morning we headed to Eckert's to hang out with the Ruckman's and also meet some new friends! We had such a fun time! Chase was great, but ended up sleeping most of the time! We were pretty sad about it, but oh well....what are you going to do?! :-) Here are some fun pictures from Saturday....

Gotta love the dads that gladly "wear" their kids :-) Aaron was begging for my poka dot sling, but I refused ;-)

Waiting in line for the tractor to take us to pick apples...one of the last times Chase was really awake

The Ruckman Family - Aaron, Robin, and Lily

This kid gave us a good laugh...is tree climing in his blood? He was pretty good at it!

Chase found an apple that was just his size!

A great family picture!

Claire and Josh - how sweet!!

The whole Apple and Pumpkin Pickin' Clan!

Right when we got back and getting ready to go, look who decides to wake up!

Interested in seeing more pictures from the day at Eckert's? Click here!

We stopped into Babies R Us on our way home for some much need diapers and wipes - but ended up taking home some other fun new items. Everyone meet our new bear cub....

On Sunday, Chase and I went to go and help Mark film the Litchfield Hampton Inn. From holding drapes to moving trash cans, we were a big help. (We hope!) As we were finishing up for the day, we headed to the Ariston to film the outside as it is a big attraction for Litchfield and we wanted it featured in the video. In the parking lot, Mark's car battery decided that it was finished.... Thankfully we had many helpers - Ron, Brooke, Mimi Edna, the Pastrovich family, and most of all - the Adam family!! THANK YOU SO MUCH for everyone's assistance!!

And the biggest highlight for the weekend is - Chase's bottom teeth finally broke thru!! YES!! It must have happened late on Saturday or early Sunday morning! Whenever they decided to break thru, I am delighted!!

Movin' On Up

As I sit here working on things for the hotels and also waiting on laundry, now would be a perfect time to take a break and post the video that I promised all of you! Chase LOVES to pull himself up on our coffee table and anything else that he can get his hands on. We are loving watching him and cheering him on. I really don't think that it could get any better than this!

Mistaken Identity

Before I get into the fun that we had this weekend, I wanted to share a quick story that happened this afternoon. With it being such a beautiful day outside, we couldn't wait for Chase to get up from his nap so we could all go on a walk and enjoy the weather. Once he was up, we all headed out for our stroll around the subdivision.

Quick sidestory on our subdivision - we love where we live as the neighborhood is filled with kids! In fact, one of my best friends from high school and his family live right around the corner! We love ya Brad, Marisa, and Tucker!! Plus, the newest addition to the neighborhood is Pat and Angie Reents. We are thrilled that they moved in and even more thrilled that they are LOST fans - couldn't get any better! They made a fantastic announcement in church this morning - they are expecting!! YAY!!! Congrats guys - we are uber excited!

Ok - back to our "walk" story! As we were walking, there was a group of kids playing in a driveway and started telling us about all of the caterpillars that they had found. We smiled and talked with them as we started passing them. As we are passing, one of the little boys yells out, "I like your cats!!" Mark and I just looked at each other and started laughing as we told them "Thanks!" For those of you that know us, you are very familiar with our little dogs, Milan and Addie. In fact - here is one of my first blogs and it happens to be about them! We passed a boy riding his bike after this comment and asked him what he thought "these" were (pointing to the dogs). His answer was "Beverly Hills Chihuaua". Wow - I seriously think that was the best walk ever! Those kids were hilarious!!

We had visitors for the weekend - Mark's parents!! It was so nice to have them as we always enjoy spending time with them and they get Chase all to themselves :-) They arrived on Friday night and it never fails....Mark and I usually stay up really late talking with his mom, Linda. It was almost 1 am before we went to bed. Linda, you are such a blessing to us as you are always there to lend guidance and support - thank you!!


Chase was so excited with his gift from Grandma Linda and Papa Paul - the Busy Ball Popper! It shoots up the balls and he had a great time watching and then making the air blow up his hair! We will have a lot of fun with this toy as he grows!




Thank you again Paul and Linda for visiting us!! Chase was pretty tuckered out today and was happy to take his nap this afternoon! :-) We will see you guys soon!!

Quick update on Chase and video coming soon!!! Chase is pulling himself up on our coffee table and VERY proud of himself. Just wait till you see it!

I hope that you all have a great week and I have a big list of things to blog about, so I'm sure you will hear from us soon.

Mark, Steph, and Chase
Oh wait - and the cats ;-)

Stop the whining!

Yep - that's right! Stop the whining and just update the blog already! I have heard this from friends, but mostly just me telling myself this! This is what late nights are for, right?!

I've really got a bunch of updates, so I'm going to try and take it slow to ease all of you into them! I could probably have 5-6 new posts, but I'll bore you all and try and put them all into one.

Let's start with the most exciting - Mr. Chase! He is now 6 months old. I can't believe how time is flying by and each stage just keeps getting better and better! He is crawling now and we are starting to make some adjustments around the house due to this new phenomenon we have going on. We have some books and such under our coffee table - those will need to be moved soon! In the morning, he is no longer interested in sitting in his Bumbo or bouncer and smiling at us as we get ready. This boy is ready for some fun on the floor! So, morning routine changed a little. Here is a fun video of him crawling to play with Papa Paul's piano!

Also, Chase went in last week for his 6 month appointment. All is well as he is weighing in at 17 lbs - putting him at the 35th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height. Tall and slender - wonder where he is getting that from ;-)

A big "THANK YOU" goes out to Uncle Hod and Aunt Carolyn for Chase's new favorite toy - his bike! If he sees this bike out, he doesn't want to do anything, but sit on the bike and press all the buttons. He stands on the sides and bounces while he is having a blast watching it light up and make sounds. Thank you so much for this toy - we have had so much fun with it!!



A couple weekends ago we had Mark's sister, Kelly and Billy and their kids as well as Mark's brother, Mike visit us for the weekend! We headed to St. Louis to visit the Magic House and the St. Louis Zoo. We had such a great time and I've included some pictures! Remember, you can find these pictures and more at our gallery: http://gallery.me.com/sewonderlin. Be sure to go there to see more of what all is happening here!



Mark is busy working on many video projects - I'm so proud of him! I'll be sure to do another post with the videos as well as some of the websites he has worked on. You all will love them!

For me, everything is still pretty much the same, but staying super busy! All the hotels are doing wonderful and I'm diving in even deeper with social media for them. Wow - yet another great idea for a post!

I've also started running... Crazy, but I'm really enjoying it! I started on my own with the Couch to 5K program. Click here for more info! I got sick with a nasty virus and then a cold, so I took a quick break, but I'm back at it and I even have a running partner. Thank you Denise for putting up with my beginner status and pushing me every time we run. I need that!

On another "fitness" note - I'm going to start teaching Pilates again, but this time as an independent contractor with FIT-to-GO in Litchfield. I start in October and will be teach a 6 week class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm really excited to get back into teaching and with each class lasting 6 weeks, it allows me to work closely with the students on their form.

Well...I'll stop for now, but I'll leave you with this video of Chase that we took tonight. Mark is trying to play the piano with him, but Chase keeps moving Mark's hand out of the way so he can have it all to himself. So cute....

Hairspray!

We had the best time with Mary and Kyle last Monday when we went to see "Hairspray" at the Muny in STL! This was Chase's first Muny experience and he LOVED it! When the show started he just stood up on my lap and stared at the stage - soo cute! I can't get over how interested he was! Here are a few pictures from that night. Thank you again Kyle and Mary!!!Also, Chase is enjoying his tummy time! He loves rolling all over the place and he is getting so close to being able to scoot himself to grab things! Mark got some great shots of him today....

Chihuahua or Chipmunk?

We had a little panic strike our hearts on Tuesday night... Poor little Milan, our chihuahua, came up and kept trying to nuzzle into my side. I just figured that he was trying to get comfortable and as I looked down I noticed that his face looked like he was holding a bunch of marshmallows in his cheeks! OH MY GOSH!! We called the emergency number for the vet and they instructed us to give him children's Benedryl and the swelling should start to go down. We aren't sure if he was bit by a spider, stung by something, or even if he ate something that he was allergic too. WOW...it was tough to see him like this! Ok...here are some shots for you!

Before

After

Well have no fear, the "chipmunk look" is all gone and Milan is back to normal. Whew! Could you imagine having to explain to people why his face looked like he was having a contest of how many marshmallows he could fit in his cheeks?! We love ya Milano Cookies :-)

Why I Blog

One of the biggest reasons that I started blogging is because I saw how much fun it was to share what you were doing with others! With Mark's family and friends in the Chicago area and some of my family and friends across the US, I thought this would be the perfect way to keep everyone updated at the same time!

AND THEN I FOUND THE OTHER REASON!!!


Make Your Blog Into A Book!!!

I thought this was the neatest thing I have ever seen! All of the memories that I have been posting on my blog can be saved in a book. I love it! I wanted to make sure that I shared this with everyone that I know, so if they were interested in saving their memories, here is a fantastic chance! Click on the link above to learn more. Enjoy blogging!

Ok....and at least one picture of Little Chase:

Mimi & Papa's Swing

Thank you so much to Mimi Julie and Papa Ken for the new swing on the swing set! Mark, Chase, and I headed over to hang out with Papa Ken last night to try out the new swing. Chase needed a towel in the back to help him fit, but once he was in, he LOVED it! There was a little breeze, so every time he would swing forward and the breeze would hit his face, he laughed. We could hear that laugh over and over..it never gets old...we love it! Here are some pictures and a little video! Priceless!

Born to Love Macs

Ok ok...I know that it has been a LONG time since my last blog was posted! Horrible, but...I think time just kept getting away from me. I'm back full force! I have a ton of things to write about and a bunch of new pictures. You might have a couple new posts because I won't put them all in one or maybe I will - decisions, decisions!

Mark, Chase and I went to an App Party at The Tech Spot in Glen Carbon, IL tonight! We had a great time talking with people about different apps for the iPhone or iPod Touch. While many were useful, there were plenty that were just plain fun.

Call us nerds, but we can't get enough of anything that comes from Apple..... Chase is already showing that he is a fan...check out that shirt!

Yay! Macs!

Is Daddy eying up a new MacBook Pro?!

Chase hanging out with Danielle Brown

Oh and just something fun to add to the memory of tonight.... Mark and I love to sit and talk while driving and sometimes that causes us both to not pay close attention to directions. I directed Mark where to go to get home from Glen Carbon, but didn't notice that he didn't take the exit to get back onto I-55. I started to look around and notice that things didn't look very familiar. Well...thank God for iPhones! I'll just bring up the map and see where we are and how to backtrack to get home. Even though it took a little longer to get home, it gave us the opportunity to sit back and talk. For those of you that know us well, this happens VERY often and we LOVE talking, but any time together is a good time :-) Let's take the wrong turn and flip it into a blessing. Love you Mark...and your wonderful sense of direction.

Music that Amazes...

Music has always been a big part of my life. I received my musical talent from my mother's side of the family - didn't always enjoy practicing, but am so thankful to my parents for staying true to their rule of having to take piano lessons from the time you could read until you graduated high school. Once we were able to start playing in the band, the only choice that we had was what instrument we wanted to play. I learned very quickly that the piano was my stress reliever.... I could always bring my troubles to the keyboard and hash them out after working through a couple of songs.

My sister wrote a blog that contained this video and WOW - I just astonished by the talent these gentleman have. Makes me want to sit back down at the piano and enjoy the feeling of the keys once again...

Happy 3rd Birthday Collin!

We packed up the car again and headed back to Bolingbrook to help Collin (our nephew) celebrate his 3rd birthday. The weather was a bit chilly, but the kids still played on the playground and had a fun time! Poor little Chase was sick all weekend with a terrible cold, but we are on the road to recovery! Here are some shots from the weekend!

Laina (who is 9 months!) and Chase

Poor little Chase resting on Saturday

We are making sure to get people to take our picture as a family - usually Mark is behind the camera! We don't want pictures without him!

Grandma Linda loves snuggling!
Look at the big fish Collin caught! ;-)
Collin waiting for his surprise gift from Grandma Linda and Papa Paul
An awesome bike!!!

But wait...there's more!! What a gift from Uncle Mike!! A VIPER!
"Gee thanks, Uncle Mike!!"

As previously mentioned, Chase came down with a pretty stuffy nose and then a cough. We just hated to see him like that - you could just tell that he didn't feel well. I took him into the doctor on Monday and he now weighs 13 lbs! Growing boy!! He is doing so much better now and is back to his happy self!

We haven't gotten it on video yet, but Chase has a new trick of taking out his pacifier and then putting it back in his mouth all by himself! We were cheering him on and he kept on performing for us - it was too cute. With that big of a smile, how could he not get it back in his mouth? :-)

Dinner Theater

First things first....Here is Chase with his NEW HAIRCUT!! :-) What do you think?!

We took Chase to his 5th movie tonight and saw "Up" - It was WONDERFUL! If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it and be sure to take everyone that you know!! Such a heart-warming film! I had heard a lot of people talk about it, so I was glad that we were able to go and see it - and of course to have another night to snuggle with my munchkin!

Once we got home, it was dinner time for Chase. He had his milk and on to our new adventure - time for some cereal. For some reason, he wasn't into the cereal tonight. Just seemed a little crabby... I grabbed the Baby Einstein toy that he LOVES (plays music and lights up) and violoa - one happy baby!! Classical music is his favorite... How do you like that Mimi Julie?! :-) Mark and I teamed up and provided a great "Dinner Theater" just for our favorite little boy.

First Hair Cut - A Success!

I've heard a bunch of people say, "No!! Don't cut his hair! He doesn't need it cut!" BUT....this poor little guy needed some "shaping"! I had my hair appointment tonight with the wonderful Ms. Lindsey so Mark and I brought Chase in as well for his FIRST haircut!! He had some long pieces on that cute little head of his that just didn't belong. We are so thankful for his beautiful hair, but we wanted to give him a cute little cut for such a cute little boy! Here are the pictures from our big moment!! I'll be posting more pictures of the "after" look soon. Who knows...maybe there will be some spiking coming! ;-)

The Before Picture

The After COMING SOON!! :-) I like to keep you all in suspense! ;-)