Oh dear, or should I say deer

Oh dear, it's been a while. I've been a slacker. Sorry Mom! :) It's just that when I have free time I never feel like blogging. I'll really, really try to do better. So here's a few updates:

Chase is growing like a little weed. He is really, really turning into a cute little boy. I always tell people he thinks he's twice as old as he is. He thinks he can do things that Kate does. Well, at least he really wants to. Kate likes to run around the house with a push toy of hers and tonight Chase was crawling and crawling as fast as his little body could go but he just couldn't keep up with her. He was getting so frustrated. So, I put him behind the push toy and he started walking behind it!! Oh boy. And the other day he stood on his own for about 3 seconds. I would say I'm gonna have my hands full, but I already do. He's getting into everything! (see pic below) I took him into the doctor last week for an ear infection and they weighed him and he's 20lbs 4oz! Can you believe that! That's what Kate weighed when she was a year old! He's a solid kid. We love him. He's such a cute, happy natured boy. And, he's sleeping through the night about 50% of the time now. Hopefully we'll be consistent soon.

He's discovered the DVD drawer....thanks to Kate

Proof that Kate's gonna get what she deserves! Whenever Kate attacks him I tell her, "you better watch out girl, he's gonna get even soon!"

Kate's personality is really blossoming lately. She's soooo cute. Her new phrase she always says is "You love me!" She pauses between each word for emphasis. "You! Love! Me!" So funny. I think she got it from the Barney I love you song. She is singing tons lately. Yesterday morning I was changing her diaper and singing Santa Clause is Coming to Town and she was filling in some of the phrases for me. So cute. She's also in a naked phase. She doesn't keep her clothes on - mainly her shirt. She ALWAYS takes her shirts off. She loves going to her nursery class at church and she asks for it throughout the week. The last few days I've noticed that she's kinda turning into a bossy big sister. (I was never like that...right?) :) It does come in handy at times...except for when she grabs Chase by the neck and throws him on the floor just because he was playing with the stereo. He's turning into one tough cookie. We are also in a bit of a power struggle at the moment. Her once limited diet has now gotten down to about 5 things that she'll actually eat. So, we are cracking down. We're currently on day 3 of her refusing to eat her dinner. Sigh....

Little miss attitude. I think I must stand with my hands on my hips a lot because she does this quite often. Notice the no shirt....

Once again....no clothes. But she would wear a hat and sunglasses. Go figure.

I put this pic in because it shows sibling love....It looks like she's choking him. And she probably is. But he loves it! Kate's new thing is to lay on top of him and give him a "hug." It looks like she's smashing him. And she is. But he laughs and laughs. Maybe he'll be a masochist...

Chrissy has been busy keeping up with the above two individuals. She got to see New Moon and LOVED it. She also has been bargain shopping this holiday season and has probably gotten herself in over her head by attempting to hand-make a few gifts. Only time will tell.

Chris has been busy with work and school....oh, and don't forget hunting. It's his new obsession. He has been soooo obsessed with it. He really, really, really wanted to get a deer and he kept getting up at 4am to go out and seeing deer but coming home empty handed. He's had a few close ones, but won't take the shot unless he's sure he'll get it. Finally, on Thanksgiving morning he sent me a text telling me he got a 2 year old doe! WARNING: don't look at the following pics if you have a weak stomach. I tried to pick the least graphic.

Oh man, he was so stoked. It was like a kid on Christmas morning. He spent the whole morning and part of the afternoon taking as much meat off as he could and then a whole Saturday processing the meat himself (with a ton of help from his mom. Thanks Pennie! I really wasn't too thrilled to be involved with that.) So now we have venison coming out our ears and guess what he's dying to do as soon as finals are over? Yup, more hunting. He's got his heart set on a buck now. And he heard on the news that you can hunt deer and donate it to a certain place to process it and they'll feed the homeless with it. So now it's charity work. :)

This is Kate's face when she saw the deer.

Isn't that precious! At first she was excited. "Deer!!!" Then she realized that the deer was laying down. "Shhh. Deer sleeping." Then she looked at the deer and said "Deer owies. Oh, poor deer." That's when I took this pic. And, this might be too much information for you, but the deer's tongue was sticking out a bit and she kept saying "Deer eating a leaf."

Well, that about wraps up what we've been up to lately. Next up is Christmas!! Only 3 weeks!!!

PS ~ Sorry about all the "really, really"s in this post. I guess I really, really want to emphasize some things...:)